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SHEEP-FARMING IN NORTH AMERICA 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO 
DALLAS • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



SHEEP-FARMING 

IN 

NORTH AMERICA 



BY THE LATE 

JOHN A. CRAIG 

PROFESSOR OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AT THE UNIVERSITY 
OF WISCONSIN, AND IN THE IOWA STATE COLLEGE, 
AND DIRECTOR OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERI- 
MENT STATIONS IN TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA ; 
AUTHOR OF "JUDGING LIVE STOCK" 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1913 

AU rights reserved 



* 



COPYRIGHT, 1913, 

By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 

Set up and electrotyped. Published March, 1913. 



J. 


S. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 




/. <s* 




JCI.A332693 




M / 



PREFACE 

No branch of animal husbandry has passed through 
so many serious changes in the last century as has 
the sheep-raising industry. Established, and for 
many years continued, with wool as the main ob- 
ject, the successive changes have seemed to make 
the mutton side of sheep-raising more and more 
important. 

The more comprehensive books upon sheep em- 
phasized wool-production and were largely devoted 
to diseases. The present volume considers the sheep 
as having an important place or part in intensive 
stock-farming. American farmers, as a rule, are not 
prepared to give sheep the attention they will repay, 
or that is necessary if the possibilities of employing 
them in the utilization of high-priced lands are to 
be realized. The range areas devoted to sheep are 
diminishing, and, as the industry comes to have a 
more stable position on general farms, the supplies 
and market prices may be expected to be more 
uniform than in the past. 

While he was Professor of Animal Husbandry at 
the University of Wisconsin, Professor Craig out- 
lined and wrote part of this work, assisted by the 



vi Preface 

late William Watson. In subsequent years, he 
added to the work the results of his investigation 
and wide observations in many parts of the United 
States. The volume planned by Professor Craig 
was to have been more exhaustive than the present 
one, and was to have contained a number of chapters 
pertaining to the breeding and handling of sheep on 
the range. As it now appears, the volume contains 
many practical ideas that are the outcome of devel- 
opments of recent years and are not found elsewhere 
in book form. In the final preparation the endeavor 
has been to preserve the author's peculiar faculty of 
arousing interest in the study of the sheep and for 
showing the possibilities to be realized from working 
with them. 

Chapters II, XII, and XV are the work of Dr. 
H. P. Miller, of Sunbury, Ohio, who has had extensive 
experience with all phases of the shepherd's work, 
and is a recognized authority on the ailments of 
sheep. 

To put the copy into final shape and arrange the 

illustrations has been the pleasant work of the 

undersigned. 

F. R. MARSHALL. 

University of California. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

PAGES 

Position of Sheep in Profitable Farming . . . 1-9 

Natural Conditions for Sheep 1 

Combining Wool and Mutton 3 

Lands for Sheep 3 

Sheep for Intensive Farming 4 

Peculiar Advantages in Sheep-farming ... 6 

CHAPTER II 

Sheep Farms and their Equipment 10-19 

Number of Sheep to Farm 13 

Buildings 13 

Racks and Troughs ....... 16 

Watering Troughs . . 18 

Fencing 18 

CHAPTER III 

Breeds of Sheep 20-48 

Habits of Sheep 21 

Ancestry of Present-day Sheep 23 

Early Sheep-breeding in Europe .... 25 

Formation of Breeds 27 

Classification of Breeds 28 

Classification according to Face Color ... 28 

The Wool as a Basis for Classification ... 28 

Classification based on being Polled or Horned . 29 

Classification based on Altitude .... 29 

Influence of Altitude 30 

vii 



vin 



Contents 





PAGES 


Adaptability of the Breeds .... 


33 


Effect of Altitude on Type .... 


35 


Effect of Altitude on Size 


35 


Climatic Influence on Wool .... 


37 


Influence of Food on Wool .... 


38 


Effect of Soil on Wool 


39 


Establishment of American Sheep-breeding . 


40 


Improvement in America .... 


42 


The American Merino 


43 


Classes of American Merino .... 


44 


French Merinos 


46 


The Rambouillet 


46 


CHAPTER IV 





British Breeds op Sheep . . . . . . . 49-134 

The Leicester Sheep 51 

The Old Leicester 51 

The Work of Bakewell 52 

Appearance of Leicester 54 

Mutton Qualities of Leicester 54 

Characteristics of the Leicester Fleece ... 55 

Value for Feeding Purposes 56 

Breeding Qualities 56 

Adaptability 56 

The Border Leicester 57 

Standard for Border Leicester .... 58 

Differences between the Leicester Varieties . . 59 

Value of Border Leicester for Crossing on Hill Sheep 60 

Crossing on Fine-wooled Sheep .... 60 

The Cotswold 61 

Home of the Breed 63 

Improvement of the Cotswold .... 63 

Appearance of the Cotswold 64 

Mutton Qualities 65 

Wool-production 66 



Contents 



IX 



Grazing Qualities 

Qualities as Breeders 

Value of Cotswolds for Grading 

The Lincoln 

Improvement of the Old Lincoln 
The Type of Old Lincoln 
Live Weights attained by Lincolns 
Weight and Character of Fleece 
Breeding Qualities of Lincolns 
Adaptability .... 
Value for Grading . 

Differences in the Lowland Breeds 



The Southdown 

Origin of the Southdown 

Improvement of the Breed 

Work of John Ellman on the Southdowns 

Improvement of Southdowns by Jonas Webb 

Appearance of Southdowns 

Description of Ideal Southdown 

Production of Mutton in the Southdown 

Quality of Mutton . 

Qualities of the Fleece 

Attributes as Breeders 

Adaptability . 

The Shropshire 

Original Sources of Shropshire 
Improvement of the Early Shropshires 
Attaining the Status of a Breed 
Type of Shropshires 
Position as Producers of Mutton 
The Quality of Shropshire Mutton . 
Qualities of the Shropshire Fleece . 
Characteristics as Breeding Stock . 
Utility for Crossing .... 
Adaptability of Shropshire 

The Hampshire 

The Hampshire Foundation Stock . 

The Sources of Improvement of Hampshire 



x Contents 

PAGES 

Extent of the Hampshire Improvement . . . 110 

Characteristics of the Hampshire .... 113 

Mutton Qualities 114 

Characteristics of Hampshire Fleece . . . 116 

Attributes for Breeding Purposes .... 116 

Adaptability of Hampshire 117 

The Oxford Down 117 

Formation of Oxford Down as a Breed . . . 118 

Qualities desired by Breeders of Oxford Downs . 119 

Becognition as a Breed 120 

Characteristics of Oxfords 121 

Mutton Qualities 122 

Fleece Characteristics of Oxford Down . . . 123 

Breeding Qualities 124 

Adaptability of Oxford Down 125 

The Suffolk 125 

The Dorset Horn 127 

The Cheviot 131 

The Black-faced Highland 134 

CHAPTER V 

Formation of a Flock 135-146 

Pure Breds versus Grades for Foundation Stock . 135 

Selecting Foundation Stock 137 

Breed Type 139 

Judging Sheep 141 

Deception in Form due to Trimming . . . 142 

Quality 143 

The Ram 143 

The Ewe . 144 

Need of Uniformity in the Ewe Flock ... 145 



CHAPTER VI 



The Improvement of the Flock 
Selection of Rams . 



147-162 
147 



Contents xi 

PAGES 

Study of Pedigrees 150 

Testing Rams 151 

In-breeding and Line-breeding . . . . 153 

Culling the Ewes 158 

Developing the Lamb 159 

Cross-breeding 160 



CHAPTER VII 

Autumn Management of the Flock .... 163-174 

Sorting the Ewes 163 

Age of Breeding Ewes 164 

Dentition of Sheep 165 

Breeding Yearling Ewes 167 

Time of Mating 167 

Need of having Stock in Good Condition . . 168 

Advantages of Flushing Ewes .... 168 

Ova produced by Ewes 171 

The Ram in the Breeding Season .... 172 

Number of Ewes to a Ram 173 

Marking the Bred Ewes 174 



CHAPTER VIII 

Winter Management op the Flock .... 175-182 

176 
177 
178 
180 
181 
181 



Division of the Flock for Wintering 
The Breeding Ewes in Early Winter 
Roughages for Ewes 
Grain for Ewes in Lamb . 
Accessories to the Ration 
Rations for Rams .... 



CHAPTER IX 

Spring Management op the Flock ..... 183-201 

Indications of Lambing 184 

Trimming and cleaning Udders .... 184 



xii Contents 



Delayed Lambing 184 

Avoiding Disturbances of the Ewe . . . . 184 

Assistance in Lambing 185 

Natural Presentation 185 

Wrong Presentation 185 

Still-born Lambs 189 

Removal of the After-birth 189 

Possibility of a Second Lamb 190 

Assisting the Lamb 190 

Attention at Birth 190 

Marking the Lambs 191 

Weak Lambs 192 

The Division of Ewes and Lambs .... 193 

Dry Ewes 194 

Treatment of Unkindly Ewes 194 

Care of Twins 194 

Hand-feeding Lambs 195 

Poster Mothers ....... 196 

Feeding Grain to Lambs 196 

Food Previous to Weaning 197 

Quantity of Grain to Feed . . . . . 197 

Feeding Ewes that are Suckling Lambs . . . 198 

Castration of Lambs 199 

Docking the Lambs 201 



CHAPTER X 

Summer Management op the Flock .... 202-218 

Salt and Sulphur . 203 

Fresh Water Required 203 

Pasturing Horses with Sheep 203 

Application of Tar 204 

Shade in Pastures 204 

Changing the Pastures 205 

Guarding against Worms 205 

Summer Grazing Crops 206 

Weaning 209 

Time for Shearing 212 

Manner of Shearing 213 



Contents xiii 

PAGES 

Washing before Shearing 214 

Place for Shearing 214 

Tying the Fleece . . 215 

Dipping 216 



CHAPTER XI 

Wool 219-228 

Density 219 

Length of Staple 220 

Examining the Fleece 221 

Fineness 222 

Shrinkage of Wool 223 

Market Grades 223 

Table showing Weight of Fleece, etc. . . . 224 



CHAPTER XII 

Early Lamb Raising 229-239 

The Breeding Flock 230 

Management at Mating Season .... 231 

Management of Ewe and Lamb .... 232 

Feeding the Lambs 234 

Marketing the Lambs 235 

Equipment for Butchering 236 

Shipping 237 

Docking and Castrating 237 

Markets 238 

Buildings 238 

Floor Space 239 



CHAPTER XIII 

Fattening Sheep 240-261 

Age at which to Feed Grain 240 

Corn for Fattening Sheep 247 

Oats 247 



XIV 



Contents 



PAGES 

Peas 248 

Bran 248 

Wheat 249 

Barley 249 

Soy Beans 249 

Roughages for Fattening Sheep .... 249 

Sorghum Hay 252 

Silage 252 

Fattening Lambs on Rape 253 

Rape and Pasture 254 

Precaution Necessary in Feeding Rape . . . 255 

Shearing Lambs before Fattening Them . . 255 

Shearing in October 256 

System of Feeding 256 

Essentials in Management 257 

Quantity to Feed 257 

Cost and Value of the Increase .... 258 

Buying Sheep to Fatten 259 



CHAPTER 


XIV 










^.tion of Sheep for Show 262-277 


Importance of Breeding . 










262 


Time of Birth . 










263 


Large Number Needed 










263 


Matching Sheep 










263 


Shed or Field Feeding 










264 


Attention to the Feet 










265 


Variety of Foods Required 










265 


Sustaining the Appetite . 










266 


Feeding during Summer . 










266 


Overfeeding Possible 










267 


How Smithfield Winners were Fed 








268 


How Chicago Winners were Fed 








269 


Use of Jackets 








270 


Washing before Trimming 










271 


Stubble Shearing 










271 


Trimming 










271 


Carding Fleece 










272 



Contents 



xv 



Frequency of Trimming . 
Oiling the Fleece 
Firming the Fleece . 
Trimming Long-wooled Sheep 
Treatment of Long-wooled Fleeces 
Process of Felting . 

Coloring 

Material used for Coloring 
Aftertreatment of Show Sheep 



PAGES 

273 
273 
274 

274 
274 
275 
275 
276 
277 



CHAPTER XV 



Diseases 278-298 

Parasitism 278 

Gid, Turn-sickness or Sturdy 278 

Tapeworms of the Sheep 280 

Intestinal Roundworms 281 

Medicinal Preventives 282 

The Stomach Worm 283 

Lung-worms, Hoose, Husk 284 

Grub in the Head 285 

Catarrh 286 

Dysentery, Scours 286 

Constipation, Stretches 287 

Colic 288 

Abortion, Slinking 288 

Eversion of Uterus, Casting of Withers . . . 289 

Garget, Caked Udder 290 

White Dysentery in Lambs 290 

Joint-ill 291 

Lamb Cholera 291 

Calculi, Gravel 292 

Entropia, Sore Eyes 293 

Pink Eye 294 

Goiter 294 

External Parasites 294 

The Scab 295 

The Tick 296 



xvi Contents 



Sheep Lice 296 

Maggots 296 

Aphtha 297 

Wool Pulling ........ 297 

Cotted Wool 298 

Administration of Medicines 298 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



1. Rack for Feeding Silage . 

2. Rack for Feeding Hay or Silage 

3. Same, Closed 

4. Rack for Feeding Hay and Grain . 

5. Same, End View .... 

6. Box Rack for Feeding Hay 

7. Trough for Feeding Grain Only 

8. A Reversible Grain Trough 

9. Barrel Watering-trough . 

10. An " A " Type Merino Ram, Plate I 

11. Prize Ewe of " A " Type, Plate I 

12. Prize Rambouillet Ewe, Plate II . 

13. Cotswold Ewe, Plate II . 

14. Flock of " C " Delaine Ewes, Plate III 

15. Group of Cotswold Rams, Plate III . 

16. Winning Lincoln Ewe, Plate IV 

17. Southdown Ram, Plate IV 

18. Prize Southdown Wether, Plate V . 

19. Prize Lincoln Ram, Plate V 

20. Southdown Ewe Flock, Plate VI . 

21. Good Type of Shropshire, Plate VII 

22. Champion American-bred Shropshire Ewe, Plate 

23. Premium-winning Shropshires, Plate VIII 

24. Cheviot Ram and Ewe, Plate IX 

25. Prize Hampshire Flock, Plate IX 

26. Champion Oxford Ram, Plate X 

27. Champion Oxford Ewe, Plate X 

28. Dorset Ram 

29. Feeling Fullness of Neck, Plate XI . 

30. Estimating Depth of Chest, Plate XI 

xvii 



FACING PAGE 

16 

16 

16 

16 

17 

17 

17 

17 

17 

43 

43 

50 

50 

58 

58 

63 

63 

70 

70 

75 

79 

79 

86 

105 

105 

115 

115 

131 

135 

135 



VII 



XV111 



Illustrations 



FIG. FACING PAGE 

31. Determining the Girth, Plate XII . 139 

32. Determining Levelness of Back, Plate XII . . . 139 

33. Taking Width of Loin, Plate XIII 143 

34. Width of Body, Plate XIII 143 

35. Leg of Mutton, Plate XIV 150 

36. Manner of Testing Quality of Wool, Plate XIV . . 150 

37. 38. Shearing the Sheep, Plate XV 209 

39, 40. Shearing the Sheep, Plate XVI 211 

41,42. Shearing the Sheep, Plate XVII . . . .212 

43, 44. Shearing the Sheep, Plate XVIII .... 217 

45, 46. Shearing the Sheep, Plate XIX 219 

47. Shearing the Sheep, Plate XX 221 

48. Well-tied Fleece, Plate XX . . . . .221 

49. Rack on which to hang Lambs for Butchering . . 236 

50. Killing, Plate XXI 237 

51. Carcasses hung to Cool, Plate XXI . . . . . 237 

52. 53. Carding the Fleece, Plate XXII . . . .273 

54. Leveling the Fleece, Plate XXIII 276 

55. Trimming Sides of Fleece, Plate XXIII . . . .276 



SHEEP-FARMING IN NORTH AMERICA 



SHEEP-FARMING 



CHAPTER I 

POSITION OF SHEEP IN PROFITABLE 
FARMING 

The sheep occupies a unique place among domes- 
tic animals. It appears to have been the first to 
have been bred in captivity, and there is hardly a 
part of the world where it has not been reared ex- 
tensively. Although of such great age and so widely 
known, its management is less understood by land- 
owners in general than is the management of cattle, 
horses, or swine. This is because it has not been 
generally considered as adapted to the utilization of 
rich arable lands in sections in which intensified 
farming has to be practiced. English farmers fur- 
nish an exception to this statement. There are 
many matters of recent development that make it 
appear that the possibilities of sheep-raising are to 
be appraised more highly in the future by American 
farmers. 

Natural conditions for sheep. — In the natural state, 
sheep inhabit only the high altitudes, and the growth 
of wool is necessary to protect them from the low 

B l 



2 Sheep-Farming 

temperatures of such regions, They naturally cover 
a large range of country in procuring their food and 
feed on a wide variety of plants. Under usual 
range conditions, sheep are not greatly removed from 
such natural environments. The herders keep the 
flocks banded sufficiently close to prevent the ravages 
of predatory animals of the lower altitudes. The 
scope of country covered by bands of range sheep is 
as wide as and no less varied than under wholly 
natural conditions, and when the drives are not long 
and the forage not depleted by overstocking or un- 
favorable seasons, the flocks in no way suffer from 
the semidomestic conditions. 

Sheep-ranching, variously modified, is the system 
of sheep husbandry that prevailed in ancient his- 
toric Asia, later in Spain, and to-day in western 
American states. Much of the area used for ranch- 
ing is unsuitable for farming and can be made to 
yield a revenue only when given to grazing. Sheep 
have proved to be more profitable grazers than 
cattle in some instances, as a part of the lands 
grazed by sheep are too scant of water and too 
rough to be utilized by cattle. The most of the 
world's wool supply is produced under such con- 
ditions as referred to in North and South America 
and in Australia. The low value of these wool- 
producing lands makes sheep-raising unprofitable 
on valuable fertile land so long as sheep are regarded 
and kept chiefly as wool producers, because the in- 



Position of Sheep in Profitable Farming 3 

vestment is so much smaller in the case of the range. 
Large areas in different countries seem destined to 
be always utilized for grazing chiefly by the types of 
sheep bred primarily for wool-production. 

Combining wool and mutton. — It is as meat-pro- 
ducers that sheep command the study of men who 
seek fully to utilize farming lands. This does not 
mean that wool is to be wholly disregarded in rear- 
ing of meat-producing sheep. A very useful degree 
of efficiency in wool -production is entirely compatible 
with even the maximum efficiency in producing meat. 
Placing entire dependence upon revenues from the 
wool of sheep maintained on farming lands, can be 
remunerative only so long as wool is protected from 
having to sell in markets open to the product of the 
strictly grazing areas. Because of the wool tariff, the 
sheep industry in America in the past has experienced 
many fluctuations that have served to prevent con- 
tinuous advance toward such a generally settled 
policy as supports the horse-, cattle-, or swine-raising 
industries. 

Lands for sheep. — It is not the purpose of the next 
few pages to argue the desirability of keeping sheep 
on every farm, but rather to discuss their peculiarities 
and the features in which they differ from other 
stock so that their usefulness may be estimated 
fairly. No discussion as to the advantages of stock- 
farming over grain-farming is in place. The prob- 
lem of soil fertility allows practically all farm 



4 Sheep-Farming 

owners a choice only as to how much or what kind 
of stock shall be kept. Various factors determine 
whether one farm or one locality should be devoted 
mainly to the keeping of one special class of live- 
stock or to giving equal place to each of two or three 
classes. 

Farms or localities of so rough or hilly nature as 
to have to be used mainly for grazing can undoubt- 
edly be best used for special sheep-farming. Such 
country affords the sheep the closest approach to 
its natural life and offers less to contend with than 
is found under less natural surroundings. Many 
steep hillsides now being cultivated in some states 
would yield much larger net returns if kept in good 
grass and grazed by well-bred and carefully tended 
sheep. Small non-productive parts of farms can be 
utilized during some months for the maintenance of 
flocks that at other times may be used to utilize the 
waste and part or all of the crops produced on the 
remaining acres. This does not apply to land that 
is non-productive because of being wet, although 
some breeds have been produced that are specially 
adapted to low lands. 

Sheep for intensive farming. — Because of being 
peculiarly useful in utilizing waste lands, the value 
of sheep for answering the same purposes as do cattle 
and swine has not usually been realized. The in- 
tensive farming practiced on highly valued English 
lands gives sheep-raising almost as important a 



Position of Sheep in Profitable Farming 5 

place as it gives to the keeping of cattle. The 
economic advantage of sheep as compared with 
cattle lies in the fact that they produce more liber- 
ally in proportion to what they consume. Though 
smaller in size, they consume more feed in pro- 
portion to their weight, and because of this a larger 
proportion of what is eaten goes into increase. It 
is a general principle among animals that the less 
the size, the more rapid is the rate and the greater the 
economy of maturing. It is only when conditions al- 
low such liberal feeding as is necessary to rapid and 
economical development that the possibilities of 
sheep husbandry are realized. Whether or not this 
advantage is offset by other conditions will depend 
upon the cropping system. Although they are 
ruminants, sheep are not as well fitted as cattle to 
utilize large quantities of coarse roughage. This 
fact probably puts sheep at some disadvantage in 
comparison with cattle as the main stock on farms 
in the corn belt, although other features still give 
them an important place on such farms. 

In restoring or maintaining fertility, considerable 
use must be made of green crops. The grazing off of 
such crops by sheep involves little extra labor and 
leaves the main part of the fertilizing elements where 
needed. The form in which the sheep manure is 
dropped and the way it is tramped into the soil 
insure a smaller waste than is possible under any 
other system. The compacting of the soil by the 



6 Sheep-Farming 

small hoof is also helpful to many loose soils. The 
sheep's habit of lying upon the highest part of the 
field or pasture leaves the larger part of the drop- 
pings at the place they are most needed. Rape 
grown in cornfields can be satisfactorily utilized 
only by sheep. The fact that sheep can be most 
satisfactorily used to feed off green crops is of im- 
portance in the solution of the farm labor problem. 
There is a saving of the cost of harvesting the crop 
and of feeding it out again, and nothing is sacrificed 
in the returns secured from the land so utilized. A 
flock that is kept in this way and that is large enough 
to feed off the forage that can be raised on a con- 
siderable part of a farm requires a good deal of 
attention. Competent shepherds are not plentiful, 
but competent hands that have the true stockman's 
instincts can learn the shepherd's art. Though con- 
tinuous, the labor is varied and much lighter and 
more attractive than ordinary field labor. 

Peculiar advantages in sheep-farming. — There are 
other points to be weighed in deciding the place to 
be given to sheep in any plan of stock-farming. Not 
only may they be used to utilize otherwise waste 
land, but they convert into mutton or wool much 
material that cannot be utilized by other animals. 
Particularly is this true of lost grain left in stubble. 
Volunteer growth or aftermath too scanty to afford 
pasturage for other stock is just suited to the roving 
habits of the sheep. Moreover, their manner of 



Position of Sheep in Profitable Farming 7 

grazing makes them highly efficient in keeping weeds 
in check. Of the numerous plants regarded as 
weeds, cattle and horses eat about fifty per cent. 
The proportion not eaten by sheep is less than ten 
per cent. A single sheep does not destroy a whole 
plant at one time, but moving as they graze, each 
sheep in passing nibbles a few leaves, and when the 
flock has passed, the plant is defoliated. Weedy 
cattle pastures into which sheep have been turned 
have been found to carry the sheep and an added 
number of cattle after the weeds were destroyed and 
the grass given fair chance for growth. Cut-over 
timber lands on which the growth is not too rank 
may be cleaned up almost as effectually as can be 
done by goats, although to do so it is necessary to 
confine sheep rather closely to such areas. In 
their usefulness in keeping weeds in check, they do 
a service that must otherwise be performed by paid 
labor, and they do it effectually and at times when 
farm hands often cannot be put at such work. 

Other features of sheep-raising are of interest in 
a business way. The revenue from wool and that 
from the lambs and mutton come in in different 
parts of the year. While in a general way values of 
mutton and lamb accord with the wool market, it 
seldom happens that both products have to sell at 
bottom prices at the same time, and the wool clip is 
easily stored with practically no waste or deteri- 
oration if it is desirable to hold for a higher price. 



8 Sheep-Farming 

The returns come quickly. Lambs may be marketed 
eight months after the ewes are bred, and when, as 
is often the case, the ewe's fleece pays for her keep, 
the lambs sold have no charge against the mother other 
than the feed they consume and the labor involved. 
Considering that in a flock bred with attention to 
both wool and mutton, the increase may safely be 
counted at one hundred per cent, the possibilities 
of sheep husbandry are scarcely less engrossing than 
those which amateur poultry raisers are wont to 
compute. 

These advantages and possibilities make the keep- 
ing of sheep very attractive. They cannot be 
realized if the interest or attention is half-hearted 
or irregular. To insure the rapid maturing of the 
lambs, a variety of suitable feeds and grazing crops 
must be provided. Intelligent and studied breeding 
is necessary to maintain a profitable combination 
of wool- and mutton-producing qualities. To realize 
the attractive possibilities, each animal must have 
the most favorable opportunity to grow and de- 
velop and must always be healthy. Keeping a flock 
free from the diseases and ailments that deplete 
the numbers and impair the thrift demands care 
and foresight. Sheep kept on ordinary-sized farms 
and brought to maturity at a rapid rate are under 
conditions that afford a striking contrast to the 
freedom and scope of their mountain homes in a 
state of nature, and the effort to maintain and utilize 



Position of Sheep in Profitable Farming 9 

what has been attained in a great many generations 
of improvement must be intelligent effort. Preven- 
tion of troubles is much more satisfactory than the 
treating of them after they appear. Intelligent shep- 
herding adds greatly to the pleasure and profit to be 
derived from farming either low- or high-priced lands. 



CHAPTER II 
SHEEP FARMS AND THEIR EQUIPMENTS 

The sheep is preeminently the animal for grazing 
lands. From this fact, it is supposed by many that 
the sheep belongs to a frontier country and to rough 
sections not available for cultivation. The sheep 
always has gone with the advance guard of civiliza- 
tion, and, because during the past century there has 
been so much new territory occupied by civilized 
man, the world's demand for sheep products has 
been very largely met from the cheap, newly occupied 
lands of both North and South America and Aus- 
tralia. During the last quarter of the nineteenth 
century, sheep products, especially wool, were so 
low in the world's markets that the sheep was hardly 
a competitor in profits on tillable lands, in densely 
populated regions, with other lines of farming. A 
generation has grown up in the belief that the sheep 
has no place on the corn and hog or dairy farm. 

After visiting nearly all parts of the United States 
and Canada where sheep are kept, the writer is con- 
firmed in the opinion that the unequal competition 
eastern farmers have had to meet from cheap western 
lands is just about over. The rapid settlement of 

10 



Sheep Farms and their Equipments 11 

the Rocky Mountain and Plains regions has pushed 
the price of land to a level with that of the East, or 
as near it, certainly, as its productive value warrants. 
There is no longer a West in the sense in which Horace 
Greeley used it in his famous advice, "Go West, 
young man, go West." 

World conditions as regards the sheep industry 
now promise as much profit from the keeping of sheep 
on the farms in the corn belt as from the keeping of 
hogs or beef cattle, if not even dairy cattle. Upon 
practically every farm that is fenced with woven wire, 
a small flock could be kept with a large per cent of 
profit. Small flocks remain healthy and live largely 
upon herbage rejected by other classes of stock. And 
small flocks on the same pasture with other stock, 
even cattle, are no detriment to them, as many 
farmers suppose. 

The reputation Canada has made as a sheep 
country has been due to its small flocks — ten to 
twenty on almost every farm. Very rarely indeed 
are as many as forty breeding ewes found on one farm. 

American farmers' inclination to vacillate and go 
to extremes has been greatly to their disadvantage. 
At times they have scrambled over each other to buy 
sheep, often getting more than they were prepared 
to keep well, and again as frantically trying to dis- 
pose of all. 

Another notion that has militated against the 
stability of the sheep industry is that it will not do 



12 Sheep-Farming 

to keep one strain of sheep on a farm many years. 
While it is true that sheep should be changed from 
one pasture to another frequently, there is no reason 
why the same strain of sheep should not be kept 
upon a farm continuously. The writer's family has 
kept sheep continuously upon the same farm for fifty 
years. A small flock of sheep may easily be kept 
healthy on the same farm indefinitely. Still another 
reason why sheep are in disfavor with many farmers 
is that they still think of sheep solely as wool-pro- 
ducing animals and handle them in a way Chat does 
not make the mutton product a prominent factor. 

The sheep, except under range conditions, should 
be thought of primarily as a meat-producing animal 
and handled in such a way as to make mutton lambs 
the chief source of income. When this is done, sheep 
will be found profitable on all our general farming 
lands. And upon all hilly lands where blue grass 
or other good pasture can be made to grow, sheep 
should be the dominant interest. There is no other 
line of farming under which the land may be allowed 
to go to grass so completely as with sheep -farming. 
Any farm that is well enough drained, either nat- 
urally or otherwise, for successful tillage is suitable 
for sheep, though limestone clays and gravels are 
most favorable. Sheep to thrive must have dry 
footing, and they prefer the grass that grows upon 
well-drained land. 

Shade is a great comfort in mid-summer but not 



Sheep Farms and their Equipments 13 

absolutely necessary, and running water is a conven- 
ience at certain seasons. Artificial supplies are now 
so easily provided for the short season in which there 
is not a natural supply available that springs or per- 
petual streams are not a limiting factor for the would- 
be flock master. 

Number of sheep to farm. — Not in many instances 
will it be advisable to stock a farm to its limit with 
sheep. Under that condition, the parasitic enemies 
are almost certain to multiply to a damaging extent. 
Nor is there any particular economy in making a 
specialty of sheep. They call for no special, expen- 
sive equipment, nor can the labor expense per head 
be greatly reduced by keeping large flocks under 
farm conditions. The smaller the flock, even down 
to one, the better sheep do. Perhaps one mature 
sheep per acre of farm should be taken as about the 
limit, in connection with the horses, cows, pigs, and 
poultry desired on the average American farm. But 
I should not advise many to keep sheep to this ex- 
tent. The small flocks will be found to give the larger 
per capita return. Perhaps a land investment of fif- 
teen dollars to furnish pasture for each mature sheep is 
a safe basis for estimating that part of the equipment. 

Buildings. — The buildings for sheep need not be 
expensive. Warmth is not important, except for 
lambs yeaned in the winter. The desirable features 
in a stable for sheep are that it should shelter them 
from rains, be dry underfoot, admit the sunlight 



14 Sheep-Farming 

generously, and afford good ventilation. Indeed, in 
the latitude of the Ohio valley and farther south, 
many flocks run in the fields throughout the year. 
The writer believes, however, that north of the Ohio 
River, winter shelter should be provided, and that 
when the weather has become severe the flock should 
go into the stable and remain there throughout the 
winter. It is the unsheltered feed-lot in latitudes 
of winter rains that are a source of aggravation to 
the sheep feeder ; then they are such a channel of 
loss of plant food as not to be tolerated. When sheep 
are turned out of the barn, it is better that they should 
go at once to the field, preferably a good blue grass 
sod. This applies to regions of winter rains. Far- 
ther north, where snows prevail throughout the 
winter, the open feed-lot is in favor. For many years, 
the writer has practiced putting his flocks in barns 
at the approach of winter and not turning them out 
again until the grass has made a good growth in the 
spring. This is with ewes that yean in the fall or 
early winter. Ewes of the smaller breeds should 
have at least ten square feet of floor space per head, 
better more, and the larger breeds fifteen. With 
abundant provision for ventilation, this is sufficient. 
The windows should be hinged at the bottom and have 
casing so made that they may swing in at the top. 
The doors should be made in upper and lower sec- 
tions so that the upper can be kept open except when 
it is necessary to close it against storms. Mature 



Sheep Farms and their Equipments 15 

sheep need no protection against cold if kept dry and 
sheltered from wind. There should be at least two 
square feet of glass windows, through which the sun 
can shine at some time upon the floor, for each one 
hundred square feet of floor space, and twice that 
amount would be better. It is dark, damp, and poorly 
ventilated stables that are responsible for the some- 
what widely prevalent notion that sheep will not 
thrive in confinement. 

At present prices of material and labor, new barns 
for sheltering sheep and their winter feed may be 
built for about $300 for each hundred sheep — 
the larger the barn, the less cost per cubic yard of 
space inclosed, up to a certain limit in height 
and width. Forty feet is an economical width 
and any desired multiple of 14 in length. When 
greater width is desired, the economical way to pro- 
vide it is to attach lean-to sheds 14 to 16 feet in 
width. The plank, truss frame is the most economi- 
cal in both lumber and labor. With the advent of 
silage as a sheep feed, less storage room for hay is 
needed. For fattening sheep and young stock, low 
sheds open to the east or southeast are very satis- 
factory, though they call for storage room for feed 
elsewhere. Should silage prove satisfactory as ex- 
clusive roughage, then the silo and a low, open shed 
would be a satisfactory combination of storage and 
shelter. The writer has used silage extensively, but 
has not used it as an exclusive roughage. 



16 Sheep-Farming 

Racks and troughs. — When silage is used, the 
rack described in Figure 1 is very satisfactory. A 
cheaper and lighter rack for both grain and hay is 
shown in Figure 2. It may be used for feeding silage 
also. It is 2 feet in width, inside measurement, and 
may be any convenient length. The posts are 30 
or 32 inches high, depending upon size of sheep to be 
fed. The floor of the trough should be elevated 8 to 
10 inches above the foot of the post. The side boards 
are 6 inches wide. When made for feeding small 
sheep, the perpendicular slats should be 12 inches 
from center to center. They are made of J- by 2-inch 
stuff, thus leaving a 10-inch feeding space between. 
For larger sheep, more room at the rack must be pro- 
vided. This can be done by putting the upright slats 
wider apart. The feeding spaces are closed, while feed 
is being distributed by a panel of 2-inch slats, spaced 
the same distance, that is arranged to slide half the 
width of the feeding space, as shown in Figure 3. 

For feeding hay and dry grain, the rack shown 
in Figure 4 is highly satisfactory. With this rack 
empty, grain may be poured into both troughs at 
the same time, as the slats sloping toward either 
trough are equal in number and width. Two inches 
is the proper width to make the slats. The figure 
will make the construction clear. 

The simplest provision for feeding hay and grain 
is to do so in separate racks. For the hay, a simple 
box rack shown in Figure 6, and for grain, the 




Fig. 1. — Rack for feeding silage ; the sides swing down to shut sheep out 
and while cleaning out or putting in feed. 



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Fig. 2. — Rack for feeding hay or silage. 



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Fig. 3. — Same rack as shown in Figure 2, closed for putting in feed. 



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Fig. 4. — Rack for feeding hay and grain. 



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Fig. 5. — End view of rack shown Fig. 9. — A watering trough made 
in Figure 4. from an ordinary barrel. 




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Fig. 6. — Box rack for feeding hay. 




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Fig. 7. — Trough for grain feeding only. 




Fig. 8. — A reversible grain trough. 



Sheep Farms and their Equipments 17 

V-shaped trough shown in Figure 7 are satisfactory. 
The hay rack should be 30 inches high and 30 inches 
wide. The feeding space should be 8 inches wide and 
at least 16 inches from the ground. A common error 
is in making the lower boards too narrow, also the rack 
too narrow, so that there is too little room for hay 
below the feeding space, and the sheep are forced to 
press their heads into the hay, thus getting seed and 
chaff in their wool, also enabling them to waste much 
feed. The grain trough is made of one board 7 
inches wide and 1 J inches thick, and one 8-inch board 
| inch thick. Any of the cheaper hard woods are 
suitable for this rack and trough. The trough should 
have legs that will support the edges 16 to 18 inches 
above the ground, depending upon the size of the 
sheep to be fed. The higher it is, the less apt are the 
sheep to get their feet into it. 

A better trough for outdoor feeding is a flat-bot- 
tomed, reversible one supported on a truss as shown in 
Figure 8. The bottom board is 12 inches wide and the 
side boards 6. The side boards extend equal distances 
both ways from the bottom board, making a double 
trough. A bolt through the truss and into the cen- 
ter of either end of the trough supports it and per- 
mits its being turned whenever it is desirable to do so. 
A peg through both truss and trough near the edge 
holds it in position. A 6-inch board supported in the 
truss above the trough keeps sheep from jumping into 
it. This is a very advantageous feature. 



18 Sheep-Farming 

Watering -troughs. — Watering-troughs should be 
so arranged that the sheep cannot befoul the water, 
and so that hay or other feed cannot easily fall into 
them. When large numbers are to be provided for, 
a large storage tank, provided with float and cut-off, 
should be arranged to hold a supply of water at the 
right height for the sheep to drink. This should be 
connected by underground pipes with smaller troughs 
conveniently located. Small barrels with a hole in 
the side large enough for a sheep to enter its head 
are highly satisfactory. Figure 9 shows one. They 
should be placed on end and the upper head removed 
and made into a lid. This permits easy cleaning 
when it becomes necessary. When such a water 
system is not considered available, tubs that may be 
easily emptied and cleaned should be used. A 50- 
gallon barrel cut in two makes convenient tubs. 
They should be partially covered with removable lids. 
Sheep are very dainty as to odors, so that drinking- 
vessels must be kept scrupulously clean. 

A convenient source of water supply is the rain- 
water from the stable roof. When elevated land near 
the barn permits of a cistern above the level of the 
sheep stable floor, it should be availed of. Up-ground 
cisterns are now made of concrete. The writer has 
had a galvanized tank on upper floor of barn that is 
still in use after sixteen years. Well water is equally 
suitable for sheep. 

Fencing. — Woven wire is altogether the most con- 



Sheep Farms and their Equipments 19 

venient and economical for either permanent or tem- 
porary fences. Twenty-eight to 30 inches is high 
enough for sheep. For temporary fences, use the 
lighter and softer wire because easier to move. The 
writer, after years of experience, thinks that both line 
and stay wires in permanent fences should be No. 9 
or larger. The posts may well be 3 rods apart on level 
ground. 



CHAPTER III 
BREEDS OF SHEEP 

The breeds of sheep are commonly divided into 
three classes on the basis of the character of the wool. 
These classes are the fine, medium, and long wool. 
The Merino breed includes all the fine wools, and the 
medium and long wools are sometimes referred to 
collectively as coarse wools, which they are by com- 
parison with the Merino types. The Merino has 
been bred in nearly all parts of the world, and many 
breeders have given special features to their flocks 
that might entitle them to a special name, but 
they have all continued to be called Merinos, though 
at times with words prefixed to designate their pe- 
culiar characteristics. Improved sheep, other than 
fine wools, include at least twenty -five distinct breeds. 
These represent separate successful endeavors to 
produce an animal of special size, form, or such pe- 
culiarities in manner of growth and feeding as adapt 
them to the special needs of the localities in which 
they have been developed. The need of these special 
adaptabilities is much more pronounced when meat 
production is considered than when the aim is chiefly 
to produce a high quality of wool. The production 

20 



Breeds of Sheep 21 

of wool has been carried on mainly in parts of coun- 
tries where the conditions of raising sheep and the 
marketing facilities were such as to center attention 
chiefly upon the fleece. Consequently, the fine-wool 
sheep, though raised in widely separated countries, 
are represented by fewer varieties or breeds than the 
coarser wools or sheep in which mutton is a more 
important consideration. 

Habits of sheep. — The habits of the domesticated 
sheep are as a rule traceable to similar traits in the 
wild sheep. Perhaps the strongest instinct in both 
is to seek the highest altitudes. From the time that 
the lamb first supports itself on its awkward and un- 
steady legs, its constant desire seems to be to attain 
the higher eminences. When allowed egress from 
their pens, the lambs are likely to congregate on the 
highest knoll in the field, and contest supremacy for 
the highest point. If a barrel is set in their pens 
and boards arranged so as to run from it to the 
ground, it affords the lambs evident enjoyment to 
run up the board to the top of the barrel. The 
aged sheep retain this trait of their lambhood. 
In the evening when the flock is seeking a spot to 
fold for the night, they are certain to choose the high- 
est and driest portion of their pasture field. 

Another instinct invariably asserting itself is that 
of following the leader. This, at times, is a source of 
annoyance and anxiety to the shepherd, for no matter 
where one sheep may go, the others are sure to at 



22 Sheep-Farming 

least attempt to go, also. This instinct the shepherd 
very often uses to advantage in driving sheep, for 
if one is induced to go, the others will gladly follow. 
It does not seem that any individual is chosen leader, 
though one may be observed to lead frequently, but 
as a rule they all seem to rush to follow as soon as 
one volunteers to lead. Curiosity is a striking 
feature of their nature. A bit of white paper blown 
past them by the wind will cause them to start 
towards it. Anything moving that they do not un- 
derstand holds them entranced. A trait common to 
sheep is to stamp the foot when alarmed or excited. 
It seems to be a signal that readily alarms the rest 
of the sheep, and it is also one that the ewe em- 
ploys freely if a stranger approaches when she has 
the care of her lambs. 

The domesticated sheep has never been known to 
return to a wild state, no matter how much neglected. 
They will always return to the fold where they reared 
their lambs, if not put in other quarters. Though 
they become timid of strangers, yet they give every 
confidence to their caretaker if he proves himself 
worthy of it. It is a curious fact that a flock of sheep 
in ascending a hill will not ascend it straight, but 
always follow a diagonal course. Another pecul- 
iarity is that it is almost impossible to induce them 
to take a step backwards. They will never back 
unless frightened, or a greater force than theirs 
compels them to do so. 



Breeds of Sheep 23 

In respect to their habits in eating, there is nothing 
noteworthy, further than that they eat the turf 
closer than other domestic animals. They are 
enabled to do this through the agency of a split lip. 
The upper lip being somewhat divided and the in- 
cisor teeth being very sharp and chisel-like, they can 
graze very close. Another feature that is oftentimes 
used to their disadvantage is the extent to which 
they can exist without water. This seems to be 
accountable to the fact that some of the salivary 
glands are unusually large in sheep. Bearing on 
their conduct toward water, it is often interesting 
to observe their marked preference for running 
water. When watering them at the pump, they will 
crowd for positions at the smaller trough with its 
running stream in preference to the large with its 
greater abundance of water. 

Ancestry of present-day sheep. — The story of the 
origin and development of the existing breeds is of 
great interest in itself aside from its value as a study 
of methods of improvement and of the proper place 
of each. All varieties of domestic sheep have been 
classed together as Ovis aries, the species aries being 
considered as represented alone by the domestic 
form. While there can be no doubt that all our 
breeds, fine and coarse wools alike, are of a common 
stock, it seems strange that no representation of the 
species should be found in the wild state. It is more 
than probable that the early stock to which our 



24 Sheep-Farming 

modern sheep trace was an amalgamation of a num- 
ber of domesticated wild types. At a very early 
date, men maintained flocks and in some measure 
directed their development by controlling the mat- 
ings. The time that has elapsed since the first 
recorded accounts of sheep husbandry is sufficient 
to allow for the widest departures from the original 
types. 

The successful management of sheep is based very 
largely upon the significance of the fact that they 
are by nature the inhabitants of only mountainous 
areas. Their habitat is above that of other animals 
and allows them a freedom of range with a wide 
variety of plants to feed upon. The high altitudes 
to which they are native insure dryness and freedom 
from the numerous forms of parasites that abound 
in damper soils, especially on those that are heavily 
stocked. Even with the breeds that have been 
developed for conditions that are the opposite of 
those of the wild sheep, there is need of continued 
care and watchfulness to offset the effects of the 
unnatural environment. 

American sheep trace wholly to importations from 
Europe, and that the stock of that continent had its 
rise in Asia, there can be little doubt. The immense 
mountain ranges of Central Asia seem to have been 
the habitat of the sheep in its natural state. Many 
of the Asiatic sheep are either short-tailed as is the 
goat, fat-rumped, or else have long fat tails the weight 



Breeds of Sheep 25 

of which at times is equal to one third that of the 
body. This class of sheep seems to have found but 
little place either in Europe or America. Only a 
few of the native Asiatic type have the form of tail 
possessed by modern sheep, and this fact as well as 
the history of the movements of the earlier peoples 
connects the stock of modern times with that of the 
early Jews and Syrians. 

Most, though not all, wild types of sheep have a 
growth of wool that is softer and finer than the outer 
and longer hairy covering. The development of 
the wool and elimination of the hair under the direc- 
tion of the early peoples was such as to give great 
value to the fleece, which was then the main object 
of sheep-raising. 

Early sheep-breeding in Europe. — From the eastern 
lands the Romans brought sheep of fine-wool-bear- 
ing qualities. They advanced the art of wool-grow- 
ing for a time, but their work was not continued, and 
its influence persisted only through such of their 
stock as was transferred to Spain. Up to the middle 
of the fifth century, the Spanish flocks also received 
modifications through the stock of the Carthaginians 
and the Moors. Much of the Merino's oil-bearing 
quality seems to have had its source in the blood of 
the sheep of Northern Africa introduced into Spain 
by the Moors at the time of their occupation of that 
country in the eighth and ninth centuries. This 
fact and the favorable influence of the climate and 



26 Sheep-Farming 

vegetation appear to have aided the Spaniards in 
achieving their great success in breeding for wool. 

During the period of the domination of the Moors, 
European civilization reached its highest point in 
Spain. Agriculture and manufacturing were espe- 
cially advanced. The city of Seville was the home 
of the greatest weaving industry of the time, and no 
less because of manufacturing skill than because 
of the quality of Spanish wools that were unequaled 
elsewhere. Although manufacturing declined with 
the conquest of the Moors, the country continued to 
furnish the finest quality of wool for export. A part 
of the flocks was maintained continuously on the 
farms of the central areas, where summer drouths 
are less severe. A larger proportion was driven 
to the northern part of the country for summer 
pasture, much as western ranchmen of to-day move 
their herds over long distances to secure summer 
pasturage in the mountain regions. There was a 
third type of Spanish sheep that was not bred for 
wool as were the Merinos, but it has had no influence 
abroad. 

Spain maintained her supremacy in wool-pro- 
duction until the nineteenth century. Not until 
nearly 1800 were sheep taken from Spain to establish 
the industry in other countries. In 1788 and 1796, 
the French government made large importations of 
Spanish sheep, and a royal flock has since been main- 
tained at Rambouillet near Paris. The outcome of 



Breeds of Sheep 27 

this enterprise was the Rambouillet breed, which is 
discussed in later pages. 

In 1765, the Elector of the German state of Saxony 
secured a number of Spanish rams and ewes. These 
responded to the careful management of their owners, 
and so skillfully was the breeding continued that the 
fame and influence of the Saxony Merinos in foreign 
countries has been second only to that of the Spanish 
sheep. 

Sheep-breeding in Great Britain has always been 
based primarily upon the production of mutton, and 
the separate discussions of the origin and peculiarities 
of the various British breeds make up the next 
chapter. 

Formation of breeds. — In the course of develop- 
ment of the countries previously referred to, the 
sheep, being almost coeval with man, has been sub- 
jected to the action of a numberless variety of natural 
influences that have given rise to divergent types 
and qualities. It has been a constant study with 
those realizing the need of new adaptations for dif- 
ferent localities to produce and fix such variations 
in types and qualities as might be found profitable. 
The conditions of soil, climate, and herbage, all 
controlled in a large degree by altitude, had an in- 
fluential effect in earlier days, while during recent 
years, perhaps the most potent powers working 
changes in the qualities of sheep have been the care 
and management of the breeder in his methods of 



28 Sheep-Farming 

feeding and breeding. These are clearly to be seen 
in tracing the origin of the breeds. 

Classification of breeds. — Several classifications 
of breeds have been made and they are all more or 
less elastic. The color of the face, dividing the breeds 
into the dark-faced and the white-faced, has been 
used as a dividing line; the quality of the fleece, 
whether fine, medium, or coarse, has also served the 
purpose, and the difference in the length of the wool 
fiber, whether long or short, has been employed as 
a basis for separation; but perhaps the best of all 
classifications, because it is more instructive than 
any other, is that which divides them according 
to their adaptability to different altitudes, whether 
lowland, upland, or mountain. 

Classification according to face color. — Separating 
the breeds on the color of the face, the dark or 
black-faced group will be found to include all the 
Down varieties, the Southdown, Shropshire, Hamp- 
shire, Oxford, Suffolk, and the Highland Blackface, 
though the face of the latter is very frequently of 
broken color. The white-faced group includes all 
others, though there is a strain of the Cotswold that 
is dark in the face, and the Wensleydales have faces 
of various shades of blue. 

The wool as a basis for classification. — While 
the line of division among the breeds based on the 
fineness of the wool fiber is not marked by a measured 
limit, yet it is none the less clearly defined. The 



Breeds of Sheep 29 

Merino with its multiple families is the only breed 
that may be properly called fine-wooled, though 
there are sometimes individuals among the medium 
wools that would meet the requirements of this 
term. The medium-wooled breeds may be said to 
include the Southdown, Shropshire, Cheviot, Dorset, 
Oxford, Suffolk, and Hampshire; while the coarse- 
wooled breeds embrace the Wensleydale, Leicester, 
Cotswold, and Lincoln. The classification based 
upon the length of the fiber in the fleeces cannot be 
defined so closely at this time as in earlier days, owing 
to the fact that the wool of the breeds that were 
formerly classified as short, has undergone such an 
increase in length that it cannot be called so now. 
The long-wooled breeds are identical with the coarse- 
wooled, while all the others in contradistinction to 
these may be classified as short-wooled, with the 
understanding that there is a wide variation in this 
class. 

Classification based on being polled or horned. — 
Another classification sometimes referred to divides 
the breeds into polled and horned groups. The 
polled or hornless heads are the Romney Marsh, 
Lincoln, Cotswold, Leicester, Oxford, Shropshire, 
Suffolk, Hampshire, Southdown, and Cheviot ; while 
the horned breeds are the Dorset, Highland, Exmoor, 
and the Lonks. In the Merino and the Welsh 
breed, the ewes are hornless and the rams horned. 

Classification based on altitude. — It is a common 



30 Sheep-Farming 

belief that only a definite kind of land, rolling in 
character, rocky in nature, and scanty in pasture, 
is especially adapted for sheep -grazing, but a study 
of the different breeds and their adaptability for 
different altitudes verifies the fact that there are 
breeds of sheep specially suited for most of the varia- 
tions in natural environment that exist at present. 
While it cannot be asserted dogmatically that the 
breeds of sheep are only suited for the conditions 
of the altitude assigned them, yet it may be claimed 
that they will do best when their circumstances 
approach those that they have been accustomed to 
in their native districts. 

Influence of altitude. — The three features re- 
quiring consideration in discussing the adaptability 
of sheep are those of climate, soil, and food. These 
in turn are decidedly dependent on altitude, and this 
again, in England and most other countries, is de- 
termined by the geological structure that gives the 
land its shape. The geological strata, whether hard 
and capable of resisting the elements, or soft and 
decomposable, exerts an important influence on 
the altitude or the height above the sea. High 
altitudes are associated with broken, rocky regions 
with more exposure than pasturage, whereas the 
opposite brings to mind the fertile lowlands of alluvial 
soil and luxuriant vegetation. With the altitude as 
a basis, it is possible to arrange the breeds so as to 
illustrate the wide variation that exists in their char- 



Breeds of Sheep 



Mountains 



Shetland 

Welsh 

Blackfaced 

Cheviot 




31 

4000 feet 



Dorset 

Merino 
Southdown 

Suffolk 
Hampshire 
Shropshire 

Oxford 



Cotswold 

Leicester 

Lincoln 

Romney Marsh 



3000 feet 



2000 feet 



1000 feet 



Sea Level 



32 



Sheep-Farming 



Color < 


df Face 


Fineness of Wool 


Dark 


"White 


Fine 


Medium 


Coarse 


Southdown 


Cheviot 


Merino 


Southdown 


Wensleydale 


Shropshire 


Dorset 




Shropshire 


Leicester 


Hampshire 


Leicester 




Hampshire 


Lincoln 


Oxford 


Lincoln 




Oxford 


Highland 


Suffolk 


Cotswold 




Cheviot 




Highland 


Merino 




Suffolk 
Dorset 





Length 


df Fiber 


Horns 


Short 


Long 


Polled 


Horned 


Merino 


Wensleydale 


Romney Marsh 


Dorset 


Shropshire 


Leicester 


Lincoln 


Highland 


Hampshire 


Lincoln 


Cotswold 


Exmoor 


Oxford 


Highland 


Leicester 


Lank 


Cheviot 




Oxford 


Merino 1 Ewes 
Welsh J hornless 


Dorset 




Shropshire 


Suffolk 




Suffolk 
Hampshire 
Southdown 
Cheviot 





Altitude 



Lowlands 


Uplands 


Mountains 


Cotswold 


Dorset 


Shetland 


Leicester 


Merino 


Welsh 


Lincoln 


Southdown 


Blackfaced 


Romney Marsh 


Suffolk 
Hampshire 
Shropshire 
Oxford 


Cheviot 



Breeds of Sheep 33 

acter, and at the same time supply a general key to 
these. 

Adaptability of the breeds. — The Romney Marsh, 
where the sheep of this name are reared, is stated to 
be a plain of rich soil drained by wide ditches and 
also so near the level of the sea as to require the 
protection of walls. Notwithstanding this, there 
are more sheep kept there than on any equal area 
in Great Britain. From this, the first rise brings 
us to the Cotswold Hills with an altitude of 500 to 
600 feet ; it is asserted that it is only upon hills not 
exceeding 900 feet in height above the level of the 
sea that the Cotswold sheep will flourish. Above 
this comes the Downs, usually rolling in aspect and 
with an elevation of about 1000 feet above the level 
of the sea. Higher still, between England and 
Scotland, are the Cheviot Hills that rise in places 
2700 feet above the sea, giving their name to an 
active hardy breed of sheep that prefer to range 
such rugged lands. Above this is the home of the 
Blackfaced mountain sheep, a breed exceptionally 
rugged in constitution with the ability to do well in 
a heather country. Again up, and we reach the home 
of the Welsh and Wicklow mountain sheep that have 
been observed feeding at an altitude of 3200 feet on 
the side of Ben Nevis. The highest grazings that 
sheep of any variety have been known to reach is 
reported to be in Pern on the plateau of the Andes, 
that range in altitude from 10,000 to 17,000 feet; 



34 Sheep-Farming 

there the temperature does not vary and the fleece 
of the sheep grows constantly. 

Marshall gives an apt illustration to show the 
natural inclination of the sheep when they are left 
to themselves in making their choice. He tells of 
an instance when Lincolns and Downs were kept 
on a farm that included lowlands and uplands. 
When the sheep were turned out, the Downs would 
go to the dry uplands, while the Lincolns would seek 
the marshy bottom land. 

There are probably some anomalies in the classi- 
fication submitted, but the only one necessary to 
notice is in respect to the Merino. The Merino is 
beyond question the most cosmopolitan of the sheep 
tribe. No breed has passed into all countries and 
thriven as the Merino, and still further no other 
breeds have been able to become so closely identified 
with their environment as to become the progenitors 
of native families as in the instance of the Merino. 
This would seem to be due to the migrating habits 
that characterize the Merino in Spain, where the 
flocks are driven towards the north in summer and 
southwards in winter, thus becoming inured to all 
the variations of a diversified country. In the classi- 
fication given, the Merino is confined to a prescribed 
area which is hardly in conformance with the facts. 
Another feature that is modifying the application 
of this classification according to the altitude is the 
degree to which systems of management are changing 



Breeds of Sheep 35 

in the native districts of the breeds. A greater 
abundance of food, better shelter, and other details 
of management will in time obliterate the character- 
istics of a mountain breed and develop in them the 
attributes of an upland breed or change the latter 
into a breed adapted for the lower lands. 

Effect of altitude on type. — Type being one of the 
most peculiar features of a breed, it is interesting 
to indicate its bearing on the sheep adapted for 
different altitudes. It may be said that each breed 
has its peculiar type and within them are the family 
types that are somewhat characteristic of the flocks 
of each breeder. It is to the former, when not due 
to culture, that the references herein are made. 
In nature, it is produced by function under the un- 
trammeled action of natural conditions. Among 
the mountain sheep, there is a tendency to approach 
the shape of a wedge, with an extra strong loin and 
long hindquarters. Much more defined, however, 
is the circular form that most of the Down breeds 
approach, and this is quite distinct from the squarer- 
formed and heavier bodies of the large white-faced 
breeds. 

Effect of altitude on size. — Closely connected with 
type is the influence of altitude and its attributes on 
size. The gamut runs from the Lincoln, the mastodon 
among sheep, to the smallest of mountain sheep that 
prefer to have its " ribs less rich " that it may battle 
successfully with the stern conditions of its native 



36 Sheep-Farming 

land. The Lincoln and the Leicester would not 
long retain their mammoth proportions without the 
infusion of fresh blood, if forced to graze the rugged 
sides of the Great Cheviot, which rises 2676 feet above 
the level of the sea, and it is even less likely that the 
Cheviot would retain its pertness and lightness of 
step if confined to the level lowlands. While in- 
specting a flock of Leicesters on a high and hilly 
farm, the proprietor advanced the information that 
he found it difficult to maintain the breed type even 
though fresh infusions were made constantly; and, 
in conformity with the general opinion in such mat- 
ters, he had decided that some disease was preva- 
lent among them. His farm was excellent sheep 
land according to the usual conception. 

A counter illustration is afforded from the conduct 
of the animals on the lowest sheep land of this con- 
tinent ; that is, Prince Edward Island. The handling 
of the Leicesters there, as judge, convinced the writer 
that they were the best fleshed and apparently the 
thriftiest sheep the writer had ever closely scrutinized. 
And they had been reared on land that current 
opinion condemns for sheep. However, they were 
under the conditions that suited the Leicesters, and 
consequently they were thrifty and maintained the 
lowland type. The dark-faced breeds, the Downs, 
though descended from some of the best flocks, had 
lost their type and thrift under these circumstances. 
The Cheviots the writer has seen lose their wool 






Breeds of Sheep 37 

and general thriftiness under conditions adapted 
for the heavier breeds, and the characteristics that 
lead to this are identical with those that make them 
the champion grazers of rough and exposed pastures. 
Flockmasters situated on highly cultivated pastures, 
the conditions of lowlands, find that the Southdown 
ewes become too fleshy and give birth to weak and 
soft lambs. Thomas Ellman, the noted Southdown 
breeder, is on record as saying that so great is the 
effect of climate and soil that the fine flavor of the 
Southdown mutton may be changed in time to 
coarse, tallowy meat; and he further adds that not 
only the flesh, but the wool and every other feature, 
will become assimilated to those of the different 
localities. 

Climatic influence on wool. — It is an inexhaustible 
subject to discuss in detail the influence of altitude 
and its features of climate, soil, and food on wool. 
Hair is the greater part of the covering of the sheep 
in a state of nature, and wool is the result of culture 
and good treatment; hence its susceptibility to 
influence. Climate is considered to have an in- 
fluence on density, and the colder the climate, the 
denser the fleece grows. On the other hand, ex- 
treme exposure, especially in conjunction with 
poverty of soil, is credited with much of the kemp 
or dead hairs that appear in the fleeces of some sheep. 
The fact that the sheep of the eastern counties 
of England have bare heads and those of the mid- 



38 Sheep-Farming 

land and west are covered, has been mainly attrib- 
uted to the differences in climate. The superior 
purity of the Australian wools, their softness, light- 
ness, and lustre are attributed to the climatic con- 
ditions of that country. It is accounted that small 
hairy sheep were sent from Bengal to Botany Bay 
to supply the penal settlement of convicts with 
mutton and wool in 1788. These, though not by 
any means a thrifty race, improved to such a marked 
degree as to make it evident that the soil and climate 
of the country was peculiarly fitted for sheep-farm- 
ing. Spanish Merinos were introduced, and it soon 
became noticeable that the wool from the Australian 
flocks was of a finer quality than that grown upon 
the sheep fed upon the pastures of Spain. Dr. 
Bowman considers that an even temperature and 
a certain amount of moisture are necessary for the 
retention of lustre, and he cites New Zealand wool 
as illustrative of this relationship. 

Influence of food on wool. — Altitude, climate, soil, 
and food are closely connected, and the relationship 
is very apparent when the fleeces of the different 
breeds are considered in this connection. It will 
be found that the large lowland breeds produce 
coarse grades of wool. The variations extend from 
the Lincoln, with heavy and comparatively coarse 
fleeces, to the light and exceptionally fine-fibered wool 
of the Shetland. The latter has been world-famed 
since 1790 for the wool entering into the composition 



Breeds of Sheep 39 

of the shawls so delicate in texture as to be easily 
passed through a finger ring. In figures, the variation 
may be expressed by saying that the finest-fib ered 
wool is -^oVfr °f an mcn m diameter, while the coarse 
fibers grown on the large lowland breeds may be 
^j of an inch in diameter. Abundance of feed 
makes heavy fleeces that secure their weight mostly 
in grease or yolk, and to some extent from the length 
and size of the fiber. The complaint is not infre- 
quent among some breeders that they are not able 
to maintain the weight of the fleeces of their flocks. 
A great abundance of food will keep it up, or if that 
cannot be supplied economically, a smaller sheep 
would be better for the conditions and more wool 
would likely be produced per acre. 

Effect of soil on wool. — This relationship of soil 
to altitude is not as close seemingly as exists between 
the former and the conditions of climate and food. 
As to the direct influence, it is known that some 
soils color wools so that they cannot be washed white. 
Territory wool has a characteristic bluish tinge 
that detracts greatly from its market value. Scott 
asserts that the best wool-growing land is generally 
that on a sandstone foundation, as it gives the wool 
the quality of being bright and clean, while he con- 
siders that volcanic or limestone soils are thought to 
favor harshness. 

A study of the soil, climate, and food supply of the 
native districts of the breeds, together with a knowl- 



40 Sheep-Farming 

edge of the influence of these and their association 
with altitude, furnishes a guide to the characteristics 
and merits of the breeds much more reliable than that 
from any other source, excepting only actual ex- 
perience with the breed representatives. 

Establishment of American sheep-breeding. — The 
careful breeding of sheep in America dates from the 
beginning of the nineteenth century. The develop- 
ment of American industries that followed the sever- 
ing of ties with England produced a new demand for 
wool. 

In some instances, the legislatures of the original 
states set apart moneys to be given as bonuses to 
growers of wool and manufacturers of woolen fab- 
rics. Our political representatives abroad interested 
themselves in making it possible for American farmers 
to secure the blood of the fine-wool-producing sheep 
of Spain and thus establish the industry in this 
country. General David Humphries of Connecti- 
cut, our minister at the Court of Spain, sent twenty- 
one rams and seventy ewes to his home state in 1802. 
In 1801, Mr. Adams moved to Ohio and founded the 
wool-growing industry in that state that to-day 
leads the farm states in wool-production and is looked 
to the world over for superior breeding stock. In 
the same year, Robert Livingston, Minister to France, 
sent to New York State a number of Merinos from 
the Rambouillet flock. In 1809-1810, William Jarvis 
of Vermont, United States Consul at Lisbon, Portu- 



Breeds of Sheep 41 

gal, secured and had shipped to this country about 
four thousand sheep from the best flocks of Spain. 
The Spanish sheep were kept in large flocks, and the 
efforts of their owners towards improvement had 
given distinction to several types or strains. Sheep- 
breeding was deeply studied by many of the owners 
among the Spanish nobility, and various large flocks 
became well known for their special valuable features. 
Chief among these were the Paulars. Mr. Jarvis 
also sent Aquiries, Escunals, Negrettis, and Mon- 
tarcas. A part of these remained on Mr. Jarvis' 
Vermont farm and were afterwards intermingled 
under his direction and further improvement sought 
by the use of the Saxony Merino after the year 
1826. Great interest had been aroused in sheep- 
breeding, and "it is estimated that from April 1, 
1810, to August 3, 1811, there were brought to the 
United States 19,651 Merino sheep." 1 

The interruption to commerce in general caused by 
the War of 1812, cut off foreign supplies of wool, and 
home prices reached fabulous figures, and so great was 
the popularity of the Merinos that $1000 was com- 
monly paid for individual breeding sheep. This wave 
brought its own reaction. At an early date, it was 
established as a policy of the United States that wool- 
growing and woolen-manufacturing should be fos- 
tered and protected from the competition of other 
countries by the imposing of duties on imported 

1 Plumb, " Types and Breeds of Farm Animals." 



42 Sheep-Farming 

material. In more recent times, the wisdom of this 
national policy has been questioned, and for short 
periods free importations have been allowed. The 
removal or threatened removal of protective duties 
has always had a serious adverse effect upon the wool- 
producing industry. Its welfare seems to be closely 
allied with governmental policy ; its history is one 
of great fluctuations, and the end is apparently not 
yet in sight. 

Improvement in America. — While the growing 
of fine wool was established in the United States by 
the importations of Spanish and Saxony Merino 
sheep, the stock of to-day is very properly designated 
as the American Merino. Mr. Jarvis wrote to the 
author of "The American Shepherd " : "From 
1811 to 1826, when I began to cross with the Saxonies, 
my average weight of wool was 3 pounds 14 ounces 
to 4 pounds 2 ounces, varying according to the sheep. 
The weight of the bucks was from 5 \ pounds to 6 J 
pounds in good stock case, all washed on the sheep's 
backs." Comparing these figures with such as are 
common to-day, there can be no question that, though 
originally indebted to the Spanish blood, the sheep 
of to-day is essentially an American product. The 
readiness of African and Australian breeders to use 
American-bred Merinos is further proof of the 
Americanism of the modern Merino. 

It may be a cause of perplexity to some to con- 
sider that while we have a score of distinct breeds 




Fig. 10. — An "A " type Merino ram: Don Alfonso, 1405, champion at 
New York State Fair in 1909. Bred by D. K. Bell, Rochester, N.Y. 
(Page 44.) 




Fig. 11. — A prize- winning ewe of "A" type of Merino. 
Bell, Rochester, N.Y. (Page 44.) 

Plate I. Merino Sheep. 



Bred by D. K. 






Breeds of Sheep 43 

of sheep in which mutton is the first requisite, our 
specialized wool sheep are all Merinos. The mut- 
ton breeds were developed independently from vary- 
ing local stocks having peculiarities of size and 
facial shape and coloring that give them distinctive 
appearances. The French and the Germans have 
developed their own ideals of a fine-wool sheep, and 
a number of Americans have fixed distinctive char- 
acters upon their flocks. Probably some of the 
American types have as much individuality as the 
Rambouillet, but they all have the same main char- 
acteristics, and to the untrained eye are a homo- 
geneous lot, while the same is not true of the more 
variable British breeds. 

The American Merino 

The term "American Merino" embraces a larger 
number of types and strains than have been developed 
from the descendants of the original stock from 
Spain. Mr. W. R. Dickinson of Steubenville, Ohio, 
had a flock descended from the Humphrey impor- 
tation. His success and that of the subsequent 
owner of the flock brought the sheep into prominence, 
and a number of breeders, having stock of this 
strain, combined and for some time maintained a flock 
register solely for Dickinson Merinos. These sheep 
were hornless, smooth-bodied, and produced wool of 
extra length and fineness. 



44 Sheep-Farming 

In the early days of Merino breeding, the Delaine 
type was recognized, distinguished by its light folds 
or no folds, fleshier bodies, and some special length 
of staple. There came to be recognized Standard 
Delaines, National Delaines, and Improved Delaine 
Merinos. From Pennsylvania, also, there emanated 
the Black Top Spanish Merino, having a separate 
register for a time. In some cases, the registers really 
represented separate lines of descent more than actual 
distinctness of type. There were numerous trans- 
fers of sheep from one register to another with en- 
suing confusion and duplication of work and ex- 
pense. Practical difficulties arose in classifications 
for showing. At times some of the types that were 
really quite different were required to show together. 
At other times separate judging and sets of prizes 
were furnished to so-called breeds that were too 
nearly alike to justify such segregation or registra- 
tion. At the time of the Louisiana Exposition, a plan 
was evolved for classifying the types of American 
Merinos, and this plan is one now generally in use 
at the leading fairs. Some of the superfluous 
registers have been abandoned and others have 
combined, until at present the number of societies 
is limited to three. 

Classes of American Merinos. — The plan referred 
to for classifying American Merinos provides three 
groups or classes, known as A, B, and C. Class A 
includes the sheep that represent the extreme in 



Breeds of Sheep 45 

production of wool. (Figs. 10, 11, PL I.) The entire 
body is covered with folds and wrinkles. The yolk is 
very abundant. To be properly classed as A type, 
sheep must also show the greatest density of fleece and 
fineness of its fibers, though the length is not so great 
as in the classes having plainer bodies and less fineness. 

Class B is to include sheep less heavily folded than 
in class A. The body is more developed and the 
weight of fleece in proportion to body weight is less. 
The staple is of greater length. This type of sheep 
is a practical one for commercial wool-production. 
The heavy folds of class A sheep and the difficulty 
they cause at shearing time put them at a disad- 
vantage from the wool grower's standpoint. It is 
claimed, however, that such a type must be main- 
tained to afford a means of maintaining fineness, 
density, and oil, which qualities are difficult to main- 
tain in flocks bred pure to other types. 

Class C is the Delaine Merino. (Fig. 14, PL III.) 
The Rambouillet is not included in the A, B, and C 
classification. Class C sheep retain marked fineness 
of fiber with considerably greater length than is found 
in either class A or class B. They are nearly free 
from folds and rank much higher as mutton producers 
than either A or B types. While each animal is 
registered as either of A, B, or C type, there is no 
hindrance to mingling the types. The class desig- 
nation is based solely on individuality and does not 
necessarily imply anything regarding parentage. 



46 Sheep-Farming 

French Merinos 

The Rambouillet. (Fig. 12, PL II.) — Fine-wool 
sheep have been bred in France since the close of 
the eighteenth century. It was in 1783 that sheep 
were brought from Spain to a farm at Rambouillet, 
near Paris, under the patronage of Louis XVI. The 
French government still maintains a flock at the 
same place. Private breeders in France have worked 
along the lines followed by those in charge of the 
government flock, and the stock has become widely 
known as Rambouillet or French Merinos. Later 
on, this type of sheep was introduced into Germany 
and a notable improvement effected in the flock of 
Baron F. Von Homeyer of Rangin, Pomerania. 
Many of the Rambouillets imported to America 
since 1882 have been brought from Germany. From 
1840 to 1850, several lots were brought to eastern 
states. The breed was introduced to Ohio in 1851, 
and in that state and in Michigan has been bred very 
successfully. 

The French and German breeders have aimed to 
produce a type of sheep that differs markedly from 
the original Spanish type, and that is also quite dis- 
tinct from any of the American types. The mutton 
qualities are more developed in Ramouillet than in 
any other fine-wool sheep. They are a growthy 
sheep with large, strong frames, heavy bone, and 
commonly having considerable length of leg. They 



Breeds of Sheep 47 

reach large weights, rams sometimes weighing three 
hundred pounds. It is the size and growthiness 
and the mutton qualities of this breed that have 
given them wide popularity in ranching sections. 
Sheep ranchmen usually prefer stock with the Meri- 
no's proclivities to keep together in bands, because 
this reduces the danger of losing sheep by their 
becoming separated from the band in charge of the 
shepherd and falling prey to predatory animals. As 
would naturally be expected, the improvement of 
the size and body of the Rambouillet has not per- 
mitted the development of fleece found where wool 
has been the sole object sought for, while there are 
some sheep in the breed with staple of fair length 
and exceedingly fine, and the number of flocks with 
fleshy bodies and long, fine fleece is on the increase. 

The Rambouillet is a smooth-bodied sheep as a 
rule, except for a few folds about the neck, and a 
wrinkle in the skin on the sides of the tail-head is 
preferred by some breeders. The rams have large 
and strong horns, a regular spiral curve being desired. 
Polled rams occasionally appear, and the ewes are 
uniformly hornless. 

Contrasted with other Merinos, the Rambouillet 
is the largest and growthiest and has the best mut- 
ton conformation, and somewhat coarser wool. In 
contrast with the mutton breeds, it is easily their 
superior in weight and quality of fleece, but suffers 
decidedly by comparison of mutton qualities. While 



48 Sheep-Farming 

regarded as a combination sheep, as usually found it 
is really better developed as a wool-producer than as 
a producer of mutton. There are no breeders that 
select more for mutton than for wool, and many base 
their selections upon fleece to a much greater extent 
than upon form. Because of this lack of uniformity 
in the standards of the breeders, the flocks may differ 
considerably, but the principle of giving equal stress 
to fleece and form is being more generally accepted. 



CHAPTER IV 

BRITISH BREEDS OF SHEEP 

It was the Northern European stock that gave rise 
to the mutton breeds and that was segregated into 
so many breeds, particularly in England. The con- 
nection of this stock with the Eastern types can- 
not be traced nearly so clearly as is possible in the 
case of the Spanish sheep. As the forests of Northern 
Europe were cleared, there were maintained flocks of 
sheep descended from the stock that accompanied 
the migrations from the East. Such stock did not 
receive the impress of the African blood that contrib- 
uted to the Merino. For a great length of time, 
there was no serious effort toward improvement, 
and what interest they received seems to have been 
mainly on account of their flesh-bearing qualities. 
Though domesticated, their breeding would be mainly 
along natural lines, and the result was the develop- 
ment of a number of so-called "forest breeds" dis- 
tinguished from each other by such characteristics 
as the peculiarities of the various sections effected 
through natural selection. Though restricted in 
area, England embraces a wide variety of conditions 
due to inequalities of altitude and temperature and 
e 49 



50 Sheep-Farming 

to dissimilarities of geological formations, soil, and 
vegetation. 

Occasional and chance importations from other 
lands impressed incidental features upon some of the 
native types, and features so received still persist 
as incidental but distinctive traits of more recent 
and highly improved breeds. Of this class of char- 
acteristics is the black face which, if its origin could 
be determined, might establish connection with the 
native black-faced breed of Abyssinia, most known in 
Persia. 

While English agriculture was by no means in a 
crude form in the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, there was yet to come the wonderful era of 
improving the usefulness of farm animals inaugu- 
rated by Robert Bake well. Before the time of 
Bakewell (1726-1795), it is likely that the idea now 
too common with us, of limiting sheep-farming to 
the less valuable lands, was more or less prevalent 
in Europe. He won for the sheep in general and in 
intensive farming by making the production of mut- 
ton their chief end. The sphere of the sheep spread 
from the rough pasture range to the lower and more 
fertile fields, until at this time they have adapted 
themselves to all the physical conditions existing in 
Great Britain. The breeder, by working in harmony 
with the environment, has produced and preserved 
small differences in type and many peculiarities 
through which each of the resulting breeds has special 




Fig. 12. — A prize-winning Rambouillet ewe from the flock of King 
Brothers, Laramie, Wyo. (Page 46.) 




-A 



Fig. 13. — Cotswold ewe shown by Cooper and Nephews. (Page 61.) 
Plate II. Rambouillet and Cotswold Sheep. 



British Breeds of Sheep 51 

usefulness in some conditions. The success attend- 
ing the keeping of sheep on any farm will depend in 
large part upon the adaptability of the stock used to 
the soil conditions and farming system. These are 
usually fixed, and a knowledge of the origin and pe- 
culiarities of the breeds is necessary in the determin- 
ing which one is best adapted to any specific condi- 
tions. 

The Leicester Sheep 

The Leicester as a breed dates its origin from the 
time of Robert Bakewell (1726-1795), and from his 
flock the Culley brothers selected the material that 
they made into the Border Leicester, which has now 
attained the status of a breed. 

The old Leicester. — There are no authentic records 
of the source from which Bakewell secured the foun- 
dation for the new Leicester, though the character 
and qualities of the sheep that he started with are 
known. A chronicler states that the Leicestershire 
and adjoining districts "beareth a large boned sheep, 
of the best shape and deepest staple, chiefly they be 
pasture sheep, yet is their wool coarser than that of 
Costal" (Cotswold). Another authority enumerates 
among the deficiencies of the old Leicester that they 
were coarse-wooled, large-framed, heavy -boned, with 
sharp chine, mean rump, loose skin, and that they 
were seldom ready for the butcher before three 
years old. 



52 Sheep- Farming 

The work of Bakewell. — Before BakewelPs time, 
the most of the sheep in Great Britain were of the 
heath or forest class and not adapted to the needs 
of arable farming. Bakewell began with the large- 
framed, slow-maturing sheep, and in the course of his 
life succeeded in making a permanent type, much 
finer in quality and truer in form, and especially 
quicker in maturing. There are no reasons for 
believing that Bakewell drew on any other source 
for improvement than selection in his own flock. He 
was a close student of animal form, and it was his 
practice to observe the relationship of outward form 
and qualities to the character of the meat and the 
development of the carcass. From his studies he 
evolved in his mind the type he desired to develop 
and perpetuate. This type has been expressed by 
saying that he desired to secure in the body of the 
Leicester the shape outlined by a common soda- 
water bottle. Commenting on this, an authority 
states that Bakewell always insisted on the necessity 
of a barrel or egg shape. Ridgy backs and big 
bellies were his aversion, this authority states, ful- 
filling as they did his favorite metaphor of a horse's 
collar put on the wrong side upwards. Against 
large bone and carcass full of offal, he waged vigorous 
war, and according to the same author the "hogs- 
head of truly firkin shape with short, light-boned 
legs, not exceeding six inches in length, was his im- 
proved Leicester sheep mould, on the plain principle 



British Breeds of Sheep 53 

that the value lies in the barrel and not in the legs." 
To make this type, Bakewell relied chiefly on selec- 
tion, and to maintain it, he pursued a course of in and 
in breeding. There is no creditable evidence to 
the effect that he resorted to crossing in forming the 
type, and there is authority for saying that he was a 
disciple of in and in breeding. As soon as he had the 
breed established, a demand began to grow for the 
sheep, but instead of selling them outright he adopted 
the plan of letting rams. They were in demand for 
crossing on common stock. In 1770 he began letting 
rams, but had difficulty in getting places for them, as 
may be inferred from the fact that they were let out 
for the season at 175. 6cZ. per head, but in 1786 
he received 300 guineas for the use of one ram, 
and in 1789 he obtained 6200 guineas from his ram- 
letting operations. While Bakewell was successful 
in securing the features he desired in his sheep, there 
were other qualities that suffered as a consequence. 
Weakness of constitution resulted from his operations, 
that made these sheep unable to withstand exposure 
and hard keep, and they also became more or less 
subject to inflammatory diseases. They became less 
prolific, and the ewes proved very poor nurses, owing 
to the impairment of their milking qualities. Bake- 
well gave no study to the fleeces of his sheep, hence 
no improvement occurred in the wool, though in 
nearly all other features a much higher type of sheep 
was evolved. 



54 Sheep-Farming 

Appearance of Leicester. — In the first volume of 
the American Leicester Record, the appearance of the 
Leicester is described as that of a fine-looking animal, 
white in face, eyes clear and prominent, ears well set 
and free from blue. Sometimes black spots appear 
on the ears, but are no disadvantage. Continuing 
the description, he says : "The neck is well set into 
the shoulder, full and broad at the base ; the shoulder 
deep and wide ; breast full and broad, and no uneven 
or angular formation where the shoulder joins the 
neck or back; deep in flank; quarters long and 
square. The legs are bare, being covered with hair 
rather than wool, and stand wide apart with no loose- 
ness of skin on them, bone fine and hard, legs of 
moderate length, straight on back and broad, light 
in belly, nearly as straight below as above (showing 
light offal) noble bearing, style, and action. " It is 
not intended to offer this as a description of all 
Leicesters, but it is submitted rather as the ideal 
type that the breeders are seeking. The Leicester 
is invariably a strong-backed sheep carrying a thick 
covering of flesh that is very likely to be soft. The 
body in shape, compactness, and smoothness is 
hardly surpassed by any breed of sheep, but in type 
they are inclined towards legginess, an appearance 
added to by the lightness of wool on the belly. 

Mutton qualities of Leicester. — The most valuable 
feature associated with the Leicester as a breed is 
their quick fattening qualities. They fatten readily 



British Breeds of Sheep 55 

and hence attain heavy weight at an early age. The 
highest rate of gain made by the Leicester at Smith- 
field was in 1887, when the first prize pen averaged 
.76 pound daily from birth to time of slaughter which 
nearly equal the best records that have been made. 
These figures sustain the claims made for the early 
maturing qualities of the Leicester. From them it is 
evident that members of this breed are capable of 
standing high feeding and return rapid gains, but it 
leaves the point undecided as to whether or not the 
gains are profitable. The quality of the meat from 
the Leicester is not conceded to rank with the best, as 
the preponderance of fat is a characteristic of the car- 
cass. This adds to the percentage of offal and in re- 
turn detracts from the value of the carcass. 

In the first volume of the American Leicester 
Record, it is said that the Leicester matures very 
early and is of good size; the rams weighing 300 
pounds and the ewes 200 to 250 pounds, each fine- 
boned and with very little offal, making a very 
profitable animal for market as well as for wool. 

Characteristics of the Leicester fleece. — The weight 
of the fleece of the Leicester has been estimated to be 
10 to 15 pounds. Twelve pounds would express a 
fair average. Referring to the fleece, a writer states 
that the wool is fine in texture, tolerably lengthy and 
often curly, varying in weight according to the type 
from about 6 or 7 pounds to 9 or 10 pounds. The 
wool is at least 8 to 10 inches long and very fine and 



56 Sheep-Farming 

lustrous. It is likely the finest-fib ered wool of any of 
the long-wooled breeds. The fleece is inclined to 
peel from the belly, leaving this part bare, which not 
only detracts from the appearance of the sheep, but 
also lessens the returns in wool. 

Value for feeding purposes. — For grazing purposes, 
the Leicester cannot be said to equal most other 
breeds, but for fattening when there is little foraging 
to do, they can hardly be surpassed. They are quick 
and hearty feeders ; being quiet in temperament, they 
take on flesh rapidly. 

Breeding qualities. — The strength of the Leicester 
in fattening attributes appears to weaken their 
breeding qualities. Being inclined to take on flesh 
very readily interferes with the qualities of the breed- 
ing flock, for reliability in breeding, prolificacy, and 
good nursing qualities are not usually associated 
with a marked tendency to fatten. 

Adaptability. — As a breed, the Leicester is adapted 
for the conditions of the lowlands where the feed 
is abundant, requiring very little foraging to* get it. 
The Leicester ram has been a prime favorite for cross- 
ing on ewes of other breeding for the purpose of rearing 
early fat lambs. In the formation of other breeds, the 
Leicester and the Southdown have played kindred 
parts, as there is hardly a breed of long-wooled sheep 
but have had at some time in their history an infusion 
of Leicester blood, while the same may be said of the 
Southdown and its relation to the dark-faced breeds. 



British Breeds of Sheep 57 

The Border Leicester 

There is some doubt as to the material used in mak- 
ing this variety of the Leicester, though there is no 
uncertainty about the source of the breed. It is 
asserted by some that the Cheviot cross was em- 
ployed, while others maintain with reason that there 
is no proof of this and that the variety is descended 
from the Bakewell flock. The Leicester-Cheviot 
being so popular in Scotland since an early day, it is 
hard to believe but that an infusion of Cheviot blood 
may have found its way into the flocks of the Border 
variety, but as there is no direct evidence of this, 
there is no right for its assumption. An early writer 
refers to the importation made by Messrs. Culley by 
stating that in Northumberland the Leicester sheep 
are the universal stock of the low grounds. Continu- 
ing, this authority states that they were first intro- 
duced by Messrs. Culley about the year 1766 from 
the founder of that breed, Mr. Bakewell of Dishley. 
According to Professor Wrightson, it was in 1763 
when George Culley visited Dishley, and at that time 
the Bakewell sheep were in high repute. Culley 
brought some Leicester rams from Bakewell and 
continued to do so for several years. The Culley s' 
stock, according to Professor Wrightson, is looked 
upon as the original strain from which the Border 
Leicester were derived. The Culley s retired in 1806, 
and the flock became the foundation for Lord Pol- 



58 Sheep-Farming 

worth's flock, which was conceded to be the leading 
flock of the breed in Scotland. At an early time, the 
breed was confined to a few of the Border counties be- 
tween England and Scotland along the Cheviot range, 
but with the extension of their popularity their home 
may be said to include many other counties, and they 
have been successfully introduced in addition to 
several parts of the world. This class of sheep has 
been coming into repute for some years past with the 
English flockmasters, many of whom attend the great 
Kelso ram sales in Leicester. The Border type is so 
marked that the judges at once disqualified two Eng- 
lish Leicesters which were entered in the ram class. 
The black spots that were discernible about the 
head and ears of so many of them tell of their de- 
scent from the Leicester. They are small in the scrag, 
but have fine general substance and size. They also 
do well on moderate land and bear storms well at the 
foot of the Cheviots. It is the specialty of the ewes 
to be very prolific and "milk like goats." They are 
rather bare on the bellies and have fine but rather 
light-weighing wool. 

Standard for Border Leicester. — In this connection 
the description of a ram of this breed from a paper 
read by Hon. H. J. Scott, manager of Lord Polworth's 
flock, before the members of the Glasgow Agricultural 
Discussion Society : " Head white, hard and clean- 
cut ; eye clear and prominent ; nose black ; ears well 
set and free from blue, but black spots do no harm ; 




- .««:%« 



'i^'^^jw^i 



mm 



Fig. 14. — A flock of " C " type (Delaine) ewes on the farm of Dr. H. P. 

Miller, Sunnybury, Ohio. 




Fig. 15. — Group of Cotswold ranis, winners at Omaha show in 1911, 
Shown by F. W. Harding, Waukesha, Wis. (Page 61.) 

Plate III. Merino and Cotswold Sheep. 



British Breeds of Sheep 59 

neck set well into shoulder with bold gay carriage; 
strong in neck vein ; not ewe necked ; shoulders and 
chest deep and wide; ribs wide and round like a 
barrel; big through the heart; deep in flanks; 
quarter long and square; light in offal; bones fine 
and hard, like a deer; wool 'purly,' fine-lustre wool; 
well clad all over on belly and testicles; none on 
head or legs; general frame should be large and 
roomy; lines straight above and below, immensely 
wide ; standing up well yet not leggy, with a free 
bold style and aristocratic expression. Fat tegs at 
twelve to fourteen months old, weighing 23 to 25 
pounds per quarter. Wool averages 9 pounds per 
fleece." 

Difference between the two Leicester varieties. — An 
authority states that "the difference between the 
Border Leicester and the Leicester is to be chiefly seen 
in the head, which on the Border Leicester is white 
and boldly carried, the nose slightly aquiline, the 
muzzle full, the nostril wide, and the ears erect. The 
head is clean and free from wool. The English 
Leicester, unless trimmed and sheared for show pur- 
poses, usually carries a tuft of wool on his head, and 
is also wooled on the shanks. The English has a 
bluish white face, whereas the Border Leicester face 
is clear white. In carcass the Border Leicester is the 
fuller and larger, and the belly is not quite so full in 
outline, being carried rather more lightly." Another 
writer verifies this difference in type by saying "the 



60 Sheep- Farming 

Border Leicester has more length and massive char- 
acter than its prototype as augmented by Bake well." 
The Border Leicester, aside from type, chiefly differs 
from the English Leicester in that they are better 
foragers, which in connection with great vigor of 
constitution enables them to withstand with more 
success the exposure attendant on living in the rugged 
country. 

Value of Border Leicester for crossing on hill sheep. 
— For crossing on ewes of the Cheviot or Blackfaced 
breeds, the Leicester ram is the most popular agent in 
Scotland. This method of crossing is quite generally 
used, for it has been found that the half-bred sheep 
makes an unusually vigorous and hearty feeder; 
one that is easily made fat for the market. The quick 
fattening qualities of the Border Leicester, together 
with the size and weight of fleece it gives, is supple- 
mented with the vigor, fine milking qualities, and fine 
wool of the Cheviot ewe. 

Crossing on fine-wooled sheep. — In New Zealand 
and Australia, where mutton rams have been exten- 
sively used to improve the common Merino flocks 
to supply the demand for dressed meat and also 
meet the conditions of the wool markets, the Border 
Leicester has been extensively used, and the cross 
has given fully better satisfaction than any other. 
In presenting the views of the breeders in New Zea- 
land on this point in tabular form, Mr. Robert Bruce 
credits the Border Leicester with a score of 88 out of 



British Breeds of Sheep 61 

a possible 100, while next to it comes the Leicester 
with a score of 84. The leading merits credited to 
the Border Leicester for this purpose are its aptitude 
to fatten, hardihood and soundness, from a mutton 
standpoint, giving both weight and quality, while in 
fleece it is ranked noticeably high because of its 
quality. In respect to its suitability for crossing 
on fine-wooled stock, the Border Leicester is con- 
sidered perfect by this authority, as it receives the 
full score allowed for that feature in the table. 

The Cotswold (Figs. 13, 15, Pis. II, III) 

There is some doubt as to the existence of sheep in 
Great Britain before the time of the Roman Conquest, 
as Caesar does not make specific reference to them. 
However, it is generally thought that in the passage 
where he makes reference to "cattle loaded with 
fleeces "he had sheep in mind, and if so, it is but proper 
to assume that they were Cotswold sheep, for no 
other variety at that time would be so likely to con- 
form to this description. Better evidence of the 
antiquity of this breed is afforded, however, by the 
fact that the hills which the sheep inhabit take their 
name from the sheep instead of the customary ruling 
of the sheep taking their breed name from their 
native district. Camden, referring to this, states 
that "Cotes" referred to the houses in which the 
sheep were folded, and "wold" to an open, rolling 



62 Sheep-Farming 

upland, and these two terms were merged in the 
present breed name, Cots wold. The "cotting" of 
the sheep was a practice introduced from eastern 
countries, and the occurrence of the word "sheep 
cote" in biblical literature gives a further claim to 
antiquity for the breed. The first specific allusion 
to the breed by name is stated to have been dis- 
covered by Rev. E. A. Fuller, an eminent anti- 
quarian, who in the study of the medieval history 
of the town of Cirencester, the center of the Cots- 
wold district, found the record of a contract of about 
the year 1319 in which one of the richest wool mer- 
chants agreed to pay 11 J marks per sack for "Cotes- 
wolde" wool grown on an estate in the center of the 
Cots wold country. 

A later reference to this breed, yet one sustaining 
their claim to rare antiquity, is the recorded account of 
the present of twenty Cotswold ewes and four rams 
from Edward IV to the King of Aragon of Spain in 
1464. Stowe in his chronicles refers to the license 
granted King John of Aragon "for certain Cotswold 
sheep to be transported into the country of Spaine 
where they have since mightily increased and multi- 
plied to the Spanish profit." Markham, writing dur- 
ing the reign of Elizabeth, refers to the Cotswold as a 
big-boned, long-wooled sheep, and, after stating that 
"Cotes wold" derives its name from the country and 
the sheep cotes, makes the further comment : "Upon 
these hills are fed large flocks of sheep, having long 




• > 



n 




Fig. 16. — A winning Lincoln ewe at Ameri- 
can shows in 1909. (Page 67.) 






- 




Fig. 17. — A Southdown ram shown in 1911 by C. Leet, Mantua, Ohio. 

(Page 74.) 

Plate IV. Lincoln and Southdown Sheep. 



British Breeds of Sheep 63 

necks and square bodies, by reason, it is supposed, 
of their hilly and short pasture, whose wool is much 
valued in foreign nations." 

Home of the breed. — The Cotswold hills include 
an elevated area of about 279,800 acres, the general 
height of which, omitting the highest points, has been 
estimated to be from 500 to 600 feet above the sea 
level. This range of oolite hills has been described 
as running northeast to southwest and occupying 
the eastern division of Gloucestershire. The soil of 
the district, according to the same authority, seems 
peculiar in that it is so free and open as to be natu- 
rally well drained, and though varying much in 
quality still retaining the same outward character, 
being calcareous and marly. The Cotswold country 
seems to be intermediate between lowlands and 
mountains, and contrary to the habit of most long- 
wooled sheep, as noted by Professor Wrightson, it 
has made its home on land approaching most nearly 
to bleak uplands. 

Improvement of the Cotswold. — The Cotswold at 
an early day was noted chiefly for its large size, 
rugged constitution, and the fineness and weight of 
its fleece. It was wanting in early maturity and in 
carcass from a butcher's standpoint. There is no 
doubt but that the Leicester was used as a cross upon 
the original Cotswold to secure an improvement in 
these features. Writing in 1850, an authority states 
that the Cotswold sheep of that day was the improved 



64 Sheep-Farming 

Cotswold and the new Leicester. The influence of 
the Leicester infusion was to reduce the size of the 
sheep, refine the bone, and add to the mutton points 
of the carcass, while it also made coarser the fleeces 
and increased the liability to diseases attendant on 
a weakened constitution. 

Appearance of the Cotswold. — The typical Cots- 
wold is a sheep of noble bearing, massive in structure, 
affluent in wool-production, and having withal a 
commanding presence. With legs planted squarely 
so as to truly show the top and bottom lines of a well- 
developed body structurally exact, and also so that 
the head may be given the natural pose and carriage 
with the forelock drooping gracefully, the appearance 
of the representative of this breed is undoubtedly 
grand. The face may be white or gray or brown, but 
short in proportion to the rest of the physique. The 
forehead should be broad, and from this wide base 
the forelock should droop long and gracefully in fine 
spirals. The neck, while short, should spring up 
rather than straight away from the shoulder. The 
latter should be flat and well packed, and the back 
should, to maintain the reputation of the breed, be 
even, broad, and solid. The width should run back 
level over the hips and to the end of the rump. 
Oftentimes fat accumulates in this region, which de- 
tracts from the evenness that should be characteristic 
of the breed. The profusion of long wool over all 
parts, finer in fiber than in the instance of most long- 



British Breeds of Sheep 65 

wooled sheep, adds to an appearance of size which is 
fully justified by the weight of the frame. 

Mutton qualities. — The Cotswold is a large pro- 
ducer of mutton, and, as is to be expected in such 
cases, the quality of it cannot be equal to that of the 
smaller breeds. At Smithfield Fat Stock Show, they 
have made a good record for rate of gain, but this 
does not of necessity make a good carcass. In the 
lamb class in 1882 the prize pen averaged .75 pound 
per head daily ; and in 1888, averaging 288 days old 
and with an average weight of 184 pounds, the daily 
gain per head was .64 pound. In the class for 
wethers over 12 months and under 24, the first prize 
pen and cup winners averaged 660 days old and 
weighed an average of 311 pounds, making the daily 
gain .47 pound per head. In 1889, a pen was shown 
that averaged 270 days old, average weight 205 
pounds, making the daily gain per head .76 pound, 
which is unusually high. Over three-quarters of a 
pound per head daily is an exceptionally high rate 
of gain for lambs, no matter how they may have 
been pampered. 

Wool-production. — The Cotswold is a heavy 
shearer, the average fleece being about 12 pounds in 
unwashed condition. The wool grades as coarse 
combing, as it is rather coarse in fiber, but also long 
and strong. A fully matured ram representative of 
this breed will usually shear over 20 pounds of un- 
washed wool. The fleece is inclined to become cotted 



66 Sheep-Farming 

and vary somewhat in its quality on the different 
parts of the sheep, as on some individuals it grows 
quite coarse on the thigh. 

Grazing qualities. — An early writer makes the 
intelligent comment on this breed that they are 
remarkable for the exceptional combination of mas- 
sive proportions of frame with a constitution adapted 
to upland grazing on short pasture. Though 
this breed may not be as strong in constitution as 
it was at an early day, yet they rank to the fore 
among the long-wooled breeds at the present time 
in this respect. For a large breed of sheep they have 
exceptional ability to do for themselves, being active 
and vigorous, consequently as grazers they are prob- 
ably the best of any of the long wools. 

Qualities as breeders. — As in the instance of most 
other large breeds, there is a strong tendency for fat 
to accumulate on the back and around the tail, col- 
lecting in such quantities as to make uncertain 
breeders. The Cotswold are fine milkers, good 
nurses, and likely to develop the disposition of good 
mothers. While not as prolific as some other breeds, 
yet, when managed with intelligence, the ewes rarely 
fail to make good lambs of what they do produce, 
as they milk freely and are attentive to the wants of 
their young. 

Value of Cotswolds for grading. — Being long estab- 
lished as a breed, the Cotswolds are very permanent 
in character and prepotent as well. They are very 



British Breeds of Sheep 67 

certain in transmitting their qualities to common 
stock. If the conditions surrounding a common 
flock are such that the fleece may be more open with- 
out working injury to the thrift of the sheep, then the 
use of a Cotswold ram for breeding purposes may 
make an improvement in the fleece by increasing 
the weight of it. And if size is desired, it can be 
secured through the same source without detracting 
from the vigor of the flock. 

The Lincoln (Figs. 16, 19, Pis. IV, V) 

The origin of the breed is obscure. As early as 
1749, they are referred to as a sheep of the Fens of 
Lincolnshire. An early description of this breed 
describes them as ungainly animals, with a long, 
thin carcass, thick and rough legs, large bones and 
thick pelts, attaining a great weight but very slow in 
maturing. Their chief merit at that time was their 
wool, which was from 8 to 16 inches long, and their 
fleeces weighed from 8 to 14 pounds. This feature 
made them profitable to the lowland graziers, al- 
though covering a slow-feeding, coarse-grained car- 
cass of mutton. The same authority notes that 
Young, fifty years previous, observed the Leicesters 
were drawing the Lincolns from the poorer lands and 
improving the latter breed by crossing, and this con- 
tinued to such a degree that the old Lincolns were 
scarcely to be found about the middle of the nine- 



68 Sheep-Farming 

teenth century. Another authority, writing about 
that time, in describing this change, says that the 
long-wooled Lincolns were formerly the only variety 
produced in the county, and they seemed formed for 
the then rich marshy soils or cold situations, there 
being little or no heathland under cultivation. Their 
principal product was their long, strong wool which 
protected them against the vicissitudes of the eastern 
winds upon their bleak open pastures during the 
winter months. They had, according to this au- 
thority, long, white heads and ears, long, thin car- 
casses with exceedingly large bone, and because of 
their wool-bearing capacity, they were scarcely ever 
fattened previous to their third year. 

Improvement of the old Lincoln. — When the heaths 
of Lincolnshire began to be improved, the demand 
was augmented for a smaller and more compact and 
earlier maturing sheep to make those waste places 
fertile. To establish this type, it has been recorded 
that infusions of Leicester blood were made by a 
number of Lincoln breeders together hiring one of 
the most noted Leicester rams of the time for one 
thousand guineas. 

It was not until 1862 that the Royal Agricultural 
Society of England recognized the Lincoln as a breed, 
at the Battersea Show. They grew in favor, and in 
1888 the American Flock Book was established, and 
in 1892 the demand for the sheep to export to foreign 
countries led to the formation in Great Britain of 



British Breeds of Sheep 69 

the flock book for the registration of pure-bred 
flocks. 

The type of old Lincoln. — About fifty years ago, 
it was said of this breed that none varied more in 
their character and management because of the 
fact that they were then bred with a view to suiting 
both the marsh and the arable districts. There was 
a conflict of the two types — the old Lincoln and the 
new with the infusion of Leicester blood. Since then, 
there has been no need for this outcross, and what we 
know as the present type has prevailed and become 
fixed by careful breeding. 

The Lincoln may be credited with being the largest 
of any of the breeds of sheep at maturity. They are 
massive, strong-boned sheep, yielding large carcasses 
and heavy fleeces. 

The face is white, strong-featured, and the poll is 
comparatively bare or surmounted with a small tuft 
of wool. The neck does not rise much above the 
shoulder, which is broad across the top, and as a rule 
it is exceptional in being very thickly covered with 
flesh. The back is very wide, level, and strong. The 
straightness and strength of the back and its cus- 
tomary wealth of flesh are leading features among 
the individuals of this breed, though this may be said 
to be a characteristic more or less an attribute of all 
the larger white-faced breeds. The width and level- 
ness of the back is continued over the loin and to the 
end of the hind quarter. The latter fills out so as to 



70 Sheep-Farming 

make the sides and the end appear square on top, 
but very often the fullness does not continue over the 
thighs and twist as it should. 

Live weights attained by Lincolns. — At the Smith- 
field Show in 1886, three ewes weighed over 1200 
pounds, and in 1826 it is recorded that a three-year- 
old wether weighed 386 pounds, a two-year-old 364, 
and a shearling 284 pounds dead weight. At the 
Smithfield Show in 1889 four pens of Lincoln wethers 
were shown. Their average age was 637 days, aver- 
age weight 300 pounds, and the average daily gain 
per head .47 pound. There were also four pens of 
lambs exhibited. The average age of these was 
285 days, average live weight 176.3 pounds, and the 
daily increase per head .59 pound. These figures 
are indicative of the heavy weights that the Lincoln 
will attain to when given an abundance of food and 
allowed every comfort, that the increase in weight 
may be as rapid as possible. When the growth is so 
great, it is not to be expected that the quality of the 
flesh should be free from coarseness. 

Weight and character of fleece. — The Lincoln wool 
is very long, being from 12 to 20 inches, and is ex- 
ceptionally lustrous, though coarse in fiber. It is 
asserted, the characteristic lustre is not retained when 
the sheep are bred away from their native country. 
The same authority states that the massing of the wool 
in flakes or strands upon the animal is characteristic of 
the breed, but that the fiber is inclined to be hairlike 





Fig. 18. — The first prize pen of Southdown wethers at the International 
Live Stock Exposition in 1910. (Page 74.) 




Fig. 19. — An English prize-winning Lincoln ram. (Page 67.) 
Plate V. Southdown and Lincoln Sheep. 



British Breeds of Sheep 71 

and lashy. A report from one of the leading flocks 
in Lincolnshire states that in 1888 the clip of 843 
fleeces averaged 12§ pounds per fleece. Another 
flock report shows that 125 shearling rams produced 
18 pounds apiece, 60 averaged over 20 pounds, and 
four fleeces weighed respectively 23, 24^, 25^, and 30| 
pounds. A good breeding flock, it is claimed, will 
average 12 to 14 pounds per fleece. 

Breeding qualities of Lincolns. — Reliability in 
breeding, prolificacy, and good nursing qualities 
are features that are valuable in a breeding flock. 
For reliability in breeding the larger breeds cannot 
equal the smaller and more active breeds for the 
reason that they are more inclined to fleshiness, and 
very often the fat accumulates and overhangs about 
the hind quarters, so as to prevent service. In re- 
spect to the prolificacy of this breed, the basis for the 
awards of the prizes of the Lincolnshire Agricultural 
Society may be considered. Three classes of prizes 
were offered, and in the first class where the number 
of ewes bred exceeded 300, the percentage of lambs 
to ewes was 1.28 in the instance of the prize 
winner; in the second class where the number of 
ewes bred was between 150 and 300, the percentage 
of the highest returns was 1.34 ; and in the third class 
where the ewes bred exceeded 40, but not under 
150, the percentage of lambs was 1.35. It is to be 
remembered that these are the best results instead of 
averages, and they appear to indicate that in common 



72 Sheep-Farming 

with other experiences, the Lincoln has superiors in 
this direction, and the same may be said of their 
nursing qualities. 

Adaptability. — Being a large sheep, the Lincoln 
must necessarily require an abundance of feed, and 
that within easy reach. It cannot produce a large 
carcass with its big frame and wealth of flesh and 
heavy fleece on scanty fare and neglect, for these 
results are only attained by heavy feeding. Rich 
and level land that produces luxuriant herbage and 
heavy crops constitute the chief requirements for any 
farm that would grow these sheep successfully. 

Value for grading. — The Lincoln as a breed has 
long been established, hence the rams are prepotent 
in transmitting their qualities. Under conditions 
where it is desirable to increase the size of the sheep in 
a flock, the Lincoln ram is a satisfactory agent to use. 
Heavier weights of carcass and fleece may be ob- 
tained in this way. Large numbers have been ex- 
ported from Great Britain to be used on the flocks of 
Merino descent in New Zealand, Australia, America, 
and the Argentine States. They have been popular 
for this purpose chiefly because of the increase in 
size and weight of fleece which results from the cross. 
The lightness, lustre, softness, and length of fine 
fiber which characterizes the cross-bred wool makes it 
in demand when put on the market. 



British Breeds of Sheep 73 

Differences in the Lowland Breeds 

Of the three breeds, Lincoln, Leicester, and Cots- 
wold, the Lincoln is the largest in size and the coars- 
est in frame and fleece, while the Leicester is the 
finest in bone and smallest in size. The head of the 
Lincoln is larger and longer than that of the others, 
and like that of the Leicester it has only a small tuft 
of wool surrounding it, while in the instance of the 
Cotswold the long forelock falls over the face. The 
neck of the Lincoln and the Leicester as a rule is 
shorter than that of the Cotswold, and as it is straight, 
the head is held almost in a line of the body. In 
the Cotswold, the neck rises more erect from the body, 
giving the head a carriage and poise that adds greatly 
to their style. The body of the Lincoln is appar- 
ently fuller in its development, having a greater 
depth of flesh usually on the back, while the Cots- 
wold and the Leicester may claim an advantage in 
the length of this part. The fibers of the Lincoln 
fleece are very loose and strong, and they mass to- 
gether in heavy flakes. The wool of the Cotswold, 
while long, is comparatively fine, though it differs 
very much in crimp. In some fleeces the fibers are 
very wavy and massed, and the crimp very uneven, 
while in others they are not the least cotted, but fall 
away in light locks with the "pirls" that are charac- 
teristic of the Leicester. The Leicester fleece is 
lighter and inclined to be more open than the others, 



74 Sheep-Farming 

and the locks have a peculiar curliness or evenness of 
crimp from end to end that is quite distinct from 
the open waviness of the Lincoln and Cotswold 
fleeces. 

While these breeds are especially adapted to low- 
lands, their extra weight and tendency to run to fat 
do not give them the popularity in the markets that 
is accorded those breeds that come to maturity at 
smaller weights. In some sections where the rain- 
fall is excessive, the long-wool type of fleece carries 
the water from the body better than do middle or 
fine-wool fleeces, and thus affords a practical ad- 
vantage as well as the one of length of staple. Cots- 
wold and Lincoln blood have been used extensively 
in range breeding to maintain size of frame and 
length of staple. 

The Southdown (Pis. IV, V, VI) 

The native district of the breed exists in the Downs 
of Sussex, a range of chalk hills which assume the 
form of a bow in the county of that name. The 
following description will exactly locate the home 
of these sheep. "If the reader will glance at the 
geological map of England and trace the boundary 
of the great chalk formation in that country, he will 
see that it is, roughly speaking, the form of a bow 
or the arc of a circle, the bow being formed by the 
eastern coast of Hunstanton and traversing the west 




Plate VI. 



British Breeds of Sheep 75 

of Norfolk close to Ely and by Hitchen, Princess, 
Risborough, Wallingford, Swindon, and Shafterbury 
joins the other extremity of the bow near Dorchester. 
This, broadly speaking, is the chalk formation of 
England, although it is not always visible, being 
covered in places by subsequent formation of lowden, 
weolden, bowlder clays, and sands, and throughout 
the district from the northern to the southern ex- 
tremity will be found representatives of the South- 
down breed of sheep. These downs are chiefly of 
a chalk formation, and vary in altitude from four 
hundred to one thousand feet." Another writer 
presents a contour of the country as follows : 
"The name of this breed is taken from the range of 
chalk hills which, running in an easterly and westerly 
direction through the northern portion of the coun- 
ties of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, and Dorchester- 
shire, are known generally as the Southdowns. 
Their elevation," he continues, " is nowhere very 
great, their breadth ranges from one mile to six or 
eight, and their surface is firm and dry and covered 
with a close, short, and sweet herbage. On the south 
they dip towards the sea; on the north they are 
bounded by the lower chalk or the weolden forma- 
tion." From these writings it is evident that the 
home of the Southdown consists of rolling upland 
chiefly of chalk formation, thus insuring sweetness 
of soil and a growth of nutritious herbage. 

Origin of the Southdown, — It is safe to assume 



76 Sheep-Farming 

that the Southdown may claim precedence over any 
of the Down breeds in length of lineage, and their 
claim to being the oldest breed of British sheep in 
existence has as good support as that of any other. 
Their history dates from the time of their improve- 
ment, but that they inhabited the hills from which 
they derive their name for many years previous to 
this is clearly established. For time immemorial the 
Southdown as a breed has had the patronage of the 
nobility and landed gentry. Mr. Thomas Ellmann, 
the son of John Ellmann the first improver of the 
Southdown, in an address before the Royal Agri- 
cultural Society of England, spoke as follows: "If 
we attempt to trace the origin of the Southdown 
breed of sheep, their natural character at once in- 
dicates that they are a mountain race and well 
adapted to the Southdown hills ; and we may fairly 
infer, in the absence of any authenticated statement, 
that they hardly existed on the island before the 
Roman Conquest, but before the earliest time the 
Southdown hills with their short, fragrant pasturage 
and dry, healthy situation must have been the most 
natural home for this sheep. The first distinct 
record concerning these sheep relates that about 
two hundred years ago sundry flocks feeding on these 
downs were annihilated by a disease called 'small- 
pox,' which was imported from Holland. From 
this date some attention was paid toward mixing 
this breed, and pains were bestowed on its improve- 



British Breeds of Sheep 77 

ment. Mr. Arthur Young, in speaking of the South- 
down sheep in 1788, admired their hardy constitu- 
tion, their usefulness in manuring the land, and the 
fine flavor of the mutton. In 1794, when continu- 
ing those essays, which all the world has admired, 
he speaks of the Southdown sheep as natives, which 
for many years had existed on the Southdown slopes. 
At the first show of the Royal Agricultural Society 
of England, in 1839, there was a class for South- 
downs, and at each show since then they have con- 
tributed in a large degree to the merit of the sheep 
exhibits." 

Improvement of the breed. — The original South- 
downs were first described by Arthur Young in his 
essays published in 1794 as being of hardy con- 
stitution and noted especially for the fine quality 
of mutton they produced. Another writer states 
that before the era of improvement began, the South- 
downs were of small size and far from possessing 
good points ; being long and thin in the neck ; nar- 
row in the f orequarters ; high on the shoulders; 
low behind, yet high on the loins ; sharp on the back ; 
the ribs flat, drooping behind, and the tail set very 
low ; good in the leg, though somewhat coarse in the 
bone. 

Work of John Ellmann on the Southdowns. — 
These were the sheep that John Ellmann of Glynde 
began to improve about the year 1780. He gave 
fifty years of skillful attention to their breeding, and 



78 Sheep-Farming 

during that time made remarkable progress by care- 
ful selection and judicious management without 
any assistance from an outcross. As indicative of 
the remarkable improvement which Ellmann made, 
we are told that in 1786 he was only able to get 
$4.38 a head for 80 ewes, but in 1800 he sold 
200 ewes for $12.50 per head. In 1787 he sold a 
ram for $50, but in 1800 he obtained $1500 for the 
use of a ram for two seasons. The reputation of his 
flock became worldwide, and in 1798 the Emperor 
of Russia bought, at the cost of 300 guineas, two 
rams from Mr. Ellmann to improve the flavor and 
quality of northern mutton. In referring to the 
aim of John Ellmann as a breeder, his son makes 
the following statement: "In several points my 
father's aim differed from that of his distinguished 
contemporary, Bakewell, the founder of the im- 
proved Leicester. It was Bakewell's idea to obtain 
the maximum of mutton with the minimum of bone. 
He disregarded wool in comparison with mutton and 
was the advocate of rapid development. My father, 
on the other hand, objected to forcing the young stock 
and was anxious to maintain strength of consti- 
tution, and then at the outset he was driven to a little 
inbreeding from the difficulty of obtaining good 
animals from others, yet as his improvement ad- 
vanced he acted likewise." It is generally under- 
stood that Ellmann's success was due to close selec- 
tion. An authority makes the following statement : 








Fig. 21. — A good type of Shropshire 
ram. (Page 86.) 



*; - \ 




Fig. 22. — The champion American-bred Shropshire ewe at the Inter- 
national Live Stock Exposition in 1911. (Page 86.) 

Plate VII. Shropshire Sheep. 



British Breeds of Sheep 79 

"I say that in fifty years' experience, I never knew 
a flockmaster in the county or out of it who had better 
sheep than others, but the improvement was to be 
traced to Glynde. The mode adopted and still 
continued that produced so much perfection is in 
the choice of the ewes to the rams and the constant 
attention to the produce from such selections." It 
has been stated that some infusions were made of 
Leicester blood, but there seems to be no exact 
evidence of it. 

Improvement of Southdowns by Jonas Webb. — Mr. 
Ellmann began his work about the year 1780 and 
retired in 1829, and it was in 1823 that Jonas Webb 
commenced to devote his attention to the improve- 
ment of the Southdown. In 1824 the following 
description was given of the Southdowns, indicating 
what they were when Jonas Webb began his work : 
"Their legs and faces were gray; they have fine 
wool, which is from two to three inches long and 
weighs from two and a half to three pounds per 
fleece. They were slightly deficient in depth and 
breadth of chest, but the mutton is excellent and 
highly flavored ; they are kindly breeders and when 
fat the average weight may be stated to be fifteen to 
eighteen pounds per quarter." From the report of the 
Southdown Club Show of 1827, the following extract 
is taken to indicate the character of the Southdown 
at that time : "In the sheep classes of that year the 
Leicesters did not come up to their previous strength 



80 Sheep-Farming 

of merit. The Southdowns, on the other hand, were 
declared to be better than at any previous occasion. 
The majority of those exhibited proving how nearly 
the Southdowns bred in that day 'approached the 
Leicester in correct form/ the last two words itali- 
cized in the original report; and certainly," the 
reporter adds, "there are other valuable indications 
of the first order." Mr. Webb's aim was to make 
a larger sheep than that bred by Mr. Ellmann and 
still retain all the desirable qualities of the South- 
down. Mr. Webb purchased his foundation flock 
from Mr. Ellmann and finally became his successor. 
The aim of Mr. Ellmann was to improve his sheep 
in form without adding especially to their size and 
to maintain the original hardiness and recognized 
characteristics of producing mutton of the highest 
excellence. Mr. Webb thought an increase in size 
desirable, and worked with this in view, retaining, 
however, the true type and essential points of the 
pure-bred Southdowns; namely, beauty of form, 
strength of constitution, with excellence of wool and 
mutton, the latter unsurpassed by any other breed. 
Contrasting the aim of the two breeders still further, 
the following clear statement presents the difference 
according to Mr. Henry Wood, who says: "Here I 
would venture to remark that while the owners of 
the flocks of which I have just spoken were scrupu- 
lously careful to maintain the purity of the breed, 
each aimed at a different type of animal. 'Small 



British Breeds of Sheep 81 

and good ' sheep were clearly Mr. Ellmann's aim ; 
Mr. Webb's, * large and good.' Believing that large 
sheep were much the best and would be the sheep 
of the future, I need not say how well Mr. Webb 
succeeded in producing animals of large frame and 
greater weight than the Southdowns of Mr. Elmann's 
day; while at the same time, retaining the true 
type and all the essential points of a pure-bred 
Southdown sheep." Mr. Webb's honors and suc- 
cesses have been many. It is unnecessary to recount 
his winnings at the Royal and other shows ; it is 
sufficient to say that he has sold rams for as much as 
250 guineas, the price a yearling brought in 1860. 
In 1861 and 1862, the flock was dispersed, bringing 
16,646 pounds. The Southdown has made an 
exceptional record for prize winning in the leading 
shows of both continents. The first noted victory 
to draw the attention of the world was at the Paris 
Exposition in 1878, when the Southdowns shown by 
Lord Walsingham carried off the first prize of 1500 
francs offered for the best pen of butcher's sheep, 
and also the grand prize for the best pen of sheep of 
any foreign (other than French) breed. 

Appearance of Southdowns. — In contrast with 
the type of most other breeds of sheep, the South- 
down is very low, level, and compact in construction. 
There is an absence of waste in bone, flesh, or fleece, 
which no other breed can approach. Quality which 
is antagonistic to waste is the leading feature of the 



82 Sheep-Farming 

Southdown. Combined with this, there is a level- 
ness of top lines and a straightness of lower lines and 
an association of these with symmetrical develop- 
ment that makes the Southdown the model sheep 
from the butcher's point of view. Careful breeding 
for centuries has given the Southdown an evenness 
of quality in all features and such a dearth of de- 
ficiencies that they cannot be approached for true- 
ness of type and an even balance in essential char- 
acteristics. The true type of the Southdown is 
strong in its compactness and even development 
of carcass. An estimate of the live weight is in- 
variably deceiving because of lowness of the body, 
the solidity of the structure, and absence of coarse- 
ness in any form. 

Description of ideal Southdown. — The following 
description of the qualities of a good Southdown 
appears in the English Southdown Flock Book : 
"In a good Southdown we look for a head wide and 
level between the ears with no sign of slug or dark 
poll; eyes large, bright, and prominent; ears of 
medium size, covered with short wool; face full, 
not too long from eyes to nose and of one even mouse 
color, not approaching black nor speckled with 
white ; under jaw, light ; neck wide at base, strong 
and good ; shoulders well put in, and top level with 
back ; chest wide and deep, ' thick through the heart ' ; 
fore flanks fully developed; ribs well sprung and 
'well ribbed up'; back level with wide and flat 



British Breeds of Sheep 83 

loin, the whole covered with firm flesh ; flanks, deep 
and full; rump, wide, long, and well turned; tail, 
large and set on almost level with chine; thighs, 
full, well let down, with deep wide twist, insuring 
a good leg of mutton; legs, a mouse color and 
'outside the body'; the whole of which should be 
covered with a fine, close, even fleece down to the 
hocks and knees and right up to the cheeks, with 
full foretop, but there should be no wool around the 
eyes or across the bridge of the nose. The skin 
should be a delicate and bright pink, the carriage 
gentlemanly and the walk that of a thoroughbred." 
In recent years, Southdown breeders are cultivating 
the tendency to the growth of wool on the face. 

Production of mutton in the Southdown. — The dis- 
cussion of early maturity usually discloses two com- 
mon views of it, the one considering only the rate 
of gain and the other the rapidity with which animals 
become ready for market from the time of birth. 
It is evident that it is possible for an animal to make 
very rapid gains and yet not be finished for market 
at any time. While the Southdown cannot surpass 
some other breeds in rapidity of gain, yet in respect 
to the dispatch with which they may be fitted for 
market, they are among the leaders. The South- 
down is so fine in quality and so smooth and level 
in form, that they are ripe for market some time be- 
fore the other breeds. At the Smithfield Club Show 
in 1887, the Southdowns did not make as good a 



84 Sheep-Farming 

showing as in later years. The best pen of wether 
lambs made .59 pound daily per head, as they 
averaged 175 pounds at an average age of 295 days. 
In the class for yearlings, the best gain was .36 
pound per head daily, the average age being 622 
days and the average weight 225 pounds. In 1888 
they redeemed their record, since the champion 
plate for lambs was won by a pen of Southdowns 
that made the average daily gain of .60 pound. 
They weighed 112 pounds when dressed, averaging 
64.36 net to gross weight. Their average age was 
291 days and their average weight 174 pounds. In 
1890 the best gain made by Southdown lambs was 
.59 pound per head daily by a pen averaging 166 
pounds at an average age of 291 days. These 
results show that while the Southdown has not made 
as large gains as some others, yet when judged as fat 
stock, they have succeeded in winning the champion- 
ship more frequently than any other. 

Quality of mutton. — Under the conditions of its 
native environment, the Southdown produces an 
exceptionally fine quality of mutton, being fine in 
texture, well flavored, and nicely mixed in propor- 
tion of fat and lean. When too closely confined 
and fed under conditions at variance with their 
habitat, these qualities are apt to disappear and the 
mutton becomes surcharged with fat. On this point 
it will be interesting to quote Mr. T. Ellmann, the 
son of the first improver of Southdowns : "So great 



British Breeds of Sheep 85 

indeed is the effect of climate and soil, that the fine 
flavor of the Southdown mutton may be changed 
in time to the coarse, tallowy meat of the Leicester 
or other long-wooled sheep. Nor will the flesh 
alone be interfered with, but the wool and every 
feature will become similar to those of the nature 
of the different localities." This explains how it is 
that sometimes the Southdown mutton does not 
retain its marbled character. The characteristic 
of the Southdown breed is to make an unusually fine 
quality of mutton with little offal, as the develop- 
ment of the meaty portions of the carcass is abnormal 
and the fineness of the structure exceptional. 

Qualities of the fleece. — The wool of the South- 
down is fine in fiber, and the fleece is unusually dense, 
though not heavy. The fiber is short and fine and 
very even in quality over all parts of the body. 
This trueness in quality in all parts of the fleece is 
reliable evidence of the carefulness with which they 
have been bred for decades. Hairiness or the presence 
of dead hairs in a Southdown fleece is a rarity. 

Attributes as breeders. — As a breed, the South- 
down has a permanency of character that has re- 
sulted from the long establishment of the breed. 
There is a persistency of type among the South- 
downs that adds greatly to the certainty to which 
they will reproduce their characteristics, and this in 
turn insures pleasure and profit in breeding them. 
In prolificacy and other material qualities, they do 



86 Sheep-Farming 

not take such a prominent position as that which 
is rightly theirs in the mutton market. Being pos- 
sessed of vigorous constitution, and also having been 
bred for definite qualities for a long time, the im- 
pressive qualities of the Southdown when used on 
other strains are very strong. 

Adaptability. — Being active and vigorous, the 
Southdown is a good grazing sheep; one possessed 
of the attributes of an excellent forager. They are 
easy keepers, and this in association with their ac- 
tivity and hardihood adapts them to rolling lands, 
where they are required to live an active life. When 
kept under environment characterized by abundance 
of food, the breeding flock is likely to take on flesh 
too heavily for the thrift of the sheep and the vigor 
of their lambs. The demand that exists in our 
market for fat stock requiring a live carcass weigh- 
ing 90 to 100 pounds when finished for market gives 
the Southdown with its smooth, plump form at that 
weight another leading advantage in their adapta- 
bility for mutton purposes. 

The Shropshire (Pis. VII, VIII) 

The home of the Shropshire, in a general way, may 
be said to be the Midland counties of England. 
In a prize report of the Agriculture of Shropshire, 
an early historian, after describing the Shropshire 
sheep, writes of their native district as follows : 




Plate VIII. 



British Breeds of Sheep 87 

"This may be distinguished as the district of Co we 
Dale as it includes and consists chiefly of this far- 
famed valley. It is inclosed on the west by a range 
of limestone hills, extending from Easthope in a 
southwest direction to Westhope; on the east it is 
bounded by the Clee Hills and the rising land of 
district number one, and on the south it reaches 
to the borders of that county. A reference to the 
map will show it to be a narrow but long strip of 
land, varying in width from one and one half to four 
miles, and about twenty miles in length and con- 
taining about 35,000 acres. It is a tract of land 
possessing much interest on account of its fertility 
and the general appearance of prosperity which dis- 
tinguishes it. . . . It spreads beneath this vener- 
able castle like a carpet of verdure of the richest 
character, and the luxuriance of vegetation at once 
strikes the beholder with the feeling that he is view- 
ing one of the most fertile of our English vales. The 
surface is slightly undulating, just sufficient to give 
variety to the landscape. The soil is chiefly alluvial 
deposit of good quality. As we rise towards the hills 
that bound the Dale, it gradually decreases in 
depth. It forms a loamy soil occasionally becoming 
a stiff loam, especially in the northern portion of the 
Dale. We also find drifts which are gravelly in 
their nature, as between Onibury and Ludlow, but 
these are generally narrow portions of no great 
extent." But all the breeding districts of the county 



88 Sheep-Farming 

of Shropshire are not as prepossessing as that just 
described. Writing of another portion of the county 
where the best and choicest flocks were bred at that 
early day, the same authority says: "The south 
portion of this district is dotted over with a number 
of hills such as Hopton Hill, Caer Caradoc, and many 
others give great boldness of character to the scenery 
and render the land exceedingly irregular and uneven ; 
level ground can scarcely be seen, except along the 
base of the valleys which twine amongst the numerous 
hills. The soil is generally light, often quite sandy, 
and at other times thin and near the rock ; most of 
it is poor and of inferior quality, but along the valley 
there is land of good quality. This portion of the 
district is bounded on the west by Welsh hills, and 
on the east by the hills which prolong the Wenlock 
Edge. From amongst these also many valleys run 
into the district and, by their superior quality, add 
much to its general fertility. ... At Shrewsbury 
we find some land of first-class quality, varying from 
strong, rich loams, to sandy loams of inferior value." 
Another writer in a description of the early Shrop- 
shires says : "In our early records of sheep-farming, 
Shropshire is described as possessing a peculiar and 
distinct variety of sheep, to which the name of 
'Morfe Common' was given from the locality to 
which the breed was principally confined. This 
is a tract of land on the border of the Severn near 
Bridgeworth, which, originally of vast area, has of 



British Breeds of Sheep 89 

late been considerably diminished in extent under 
the influence of cultivation and the generally im- 
proved condition of the country." It appears also 
that two heath varieties also contributed to the 
foundation of the Shropshire, and their native dis- 
tricts were the Longmynd range in Shropshire and 
Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. 

Original sources of Shropshire. — The foundation 
material used in establishing this breed were the 
sheep known as Morfe Commons, the Longmynd 
sheep, and also those of the Cannock Chase. A 
writer, referring to the evolution of the Shropshire, 
sums it up briefly as follows: "The original heath 
breeds of the Longmynd range in Shropshire and 
Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, having horns and 
black faces, were improved first with Southdown 
blood and afterwards by selection until the present 
Shropshire breed was established. Two of the 
most celebrated founders of the breed were Mr. 
Samuel Meire, who made use of both Southdown 
and Leicester blood, and Mr. George Adney, who, 
beginning with a sheep descended from a Southdown 
cross, brought his flock to extraordinary perfection 
by selection and breeding." Plymley, in his " General 
View of the Agriculture of Shropshire" (page 260), 
published in 1803, says of the Longmynd sheep : 
"There is a breed of sheep on the Longmynd with 
horns and black faces that seems an indigenous sort ; 
they are nimble, hardy, and weigh near ten pound 



90 Sheep-Farming 

per quarter when fattened. Their fleeces upon 
an average may weigh two and one half pounds, of 
which one half pound will be brechen or coarse wool 
and is sold distinct from the rest. The farmers 
of the hill country seem to think the greatest ad- 
vantage they derive from the access of foreign stock 
is from the cross of the Southdown with the Long- 
mynd sheep ; the produce they state to be as hardy 
and to bite as close as the Longmynd sheep, and the 
weight of the carcass is increased." 

In 1792 the sheep of England were subjected to 
the investigations of the Bristol Wool Society, and 
they reported on the Morf e Common sheep as follows : 
"On Morfe Common near Bridgeworth, which 
contains about 600,000 acres, there are about 10,000 
sheep kept during the summer months which pro- 
duce wool of superior quality. They are considered 
a native breed — a black-faced or brown or spotted 
faced, horned sheep, little subject to either rot or 
scab, . . . clipping nearly two pounds of fleece ex- 
clusive of the breeching, which may be taken at 
one seventh or one eighth part of the whole." The 
writer who quotes the foregoing continues: "This 
appears to have been the original stock from which 
the present breed of Shropshire Downs has sprung. 
As the country advanced, and the breed became more 
valuable for their carcasses as well as for their wool, 
the Morfe Common sheep were crossed with other 
breeds, but more particularly with the long-wooled 



British Breeds of Sheep 91 

Leicester and Cots wold or the short- wool ed South- 
downs." 

Improvement of the early Shropshire. — The sheep 
that were the original source of the Shropshire were 
noted chiefly for the high quality of the wool that 
they produced. In a prize report on the Agriculture 
of Shropshire, the following occurs : The quality 
of the Shropshire Down wool is exceedingly good, 
and the fleeces average good weight. The fleeces 
from ewes average from five to eight pounds ; wethers 
fifteen months old, seven to eight pounds; yearling 
rams, eight to twelve pounds; but this excessive 
weight is generally accompanied by coarseness, which 
depreciates the value of the fleece. As far back as 
the fourteenth century, we find the Shropshire wool 
considered the choicest in England. . . . Sub- 
sequently in a'work published in 1694 ("The Interest 
of England," page 4) it is stated: "Our Shrop- 
shire wool is not to be equaled in its kind by 
any part of the world and is suitable to almost 
any degree of quality." Another early chronicler 
says: "The account previously given of the price 
of Shropshire wool (£9 6s. \&. per sack), the highest 
in England, is in a great degree confirmatory of this 
opinion, and was composed most probably of the 
fleeces of the more common sheep, which were so long 
the pride and boast of Shropshire, produced as they 
did the finest wool in England, the superior to the 
Ry lands." From this and the facts previously 



92 Sheep-Farming 

presented, it is clear that the chief characteristics 
of the original Shropshire was the production of 
a very fine quality of wool. At a meeting of a 
farmer's club in the county of Shropshire, Mr. J. 
Meire, the first improver of this breed, is quoted as 
saying: "It is not attempted to be denied that the 
Shropshire is a cross-bred sheep. The original herd 
was horned, and the first attempt at improvement 
was to get rid of these incumbrances; and there is 
little doubt that this was effected by a cross of the 
Southdowns. This sheep was well adapted for the 
Downs, but for the inclosures of the Shropshire 
something more docile was required; consequently 
recourse was had to the Leicester." In discussing 
the work accomplished by Mr. Meire, another writer 
describes the source and direction of the improve- 
ment as follows: "Mr. Meire was a good judge 
of stock and set to work upon the coarse Shropshire, 
going chiefly for these points — straight spine with 
well-sprung ribs, oblique shoulders, and good rumps. 
These points could not be obtained by cultivation 
and selection alone, and Mr. Meire introduced the 
Southdown, buying or hiring rams from the late Mr. 
J. Ellmann, of Glynde. Aptitude to feed, with 
short back and chine, were derived from a cross of 
Leicester blood introduced with great judgment. 
Having thus obtained what he desired from us, Mr. 
Meire endeavored to fix the same by close breeding." 
Another authority indicates the improvement that 



British Breeds of Sheep 93 

was made as follows: "Mr. Meire, the great 
Shropshire improver, first used Leicesters on the 
Shrops to give them fatter backs, and then South- 
downs to darken their faces." There is abundant 
evidence in the foregoing statements to indicate 
that the Shropshire derives its merits from many 
sources. 

Attaining the status of a breed. — The first Shrop- 
shires to attract public attention were shown by Mr. 
Samuel Meire of Castle Hill near Much Wenlock, 
Shropshire, at the Royal Agricultural Society Show 
at Gloucester in 1853. The record in the Journal 
of this society for that year notes that Mr. Meire's 
exhibit received recommendations. Mr. It. Mil- 
ward in a report on the exhibition of Live Stock at 
the Gloucester meeting of the society says: "The 
new class of Shropshire Downs was very successful ; 
it is to be hoped that the society will recognize them 
as a distinct breed." This is the first official refer- 
ence to the Shropshire. The sheep shown must 
have been of some merit to be worthy of this recom- 
mendation, which, however, was not acted upon 
until some years later. It was not until 1859 at the 
same society's show, that the Shropshire again made 
a notable exhibit. Representatives of the breed 
were shown in the class " Short-wooled (not Shrop- 
shires)," and in the competition for the special prizes 
offered for Shropshires, there were eight flocks repre- 
sented and a dozen others included among the list 



94 Sheep-Farming 

of recommendations. In 1860 we find the Shrop- 
shire awarded a distinct class with a large number of 
flocks represented. Referring to this exhibit, one 
of the judges stated: "Perhaps no description of 
sheep excited more interest in the show yard than 
these. It is only within the last eight or ten years 
that they have come prominently into notice; and 
it was not until the Canterbury show last year that 
their claims to be considered a distinct breed were 
recognized by the Royal Agricultural Society. Yet 
here we find them in greater numbers than any other 
breed of sheep shown; ... it is impossible not to 
be struck with the appearance of these sheep, as a 
most useful, rent-paying kind of animal; and if 
they have not yet attained that uniformity of char- 
acter, which we are accustomed to see, in some other 
herds, it must be admitted that they possess all the 
elements which are required to constitute a near 
approach to perfection, and all the Shropshire 
breeders have to do is to concentrate these qualities 
by a careful and judicious selection. In the class 
for yearling rams, upwards of fifty were shown, most 
of them heavy -fleshed animals of considerable merit ; 
a few indicating the effect of crossing with the South- 
downs, more or less remotely, and possessing less size 
and robustness of character, though with more com- 
pactness of form, and finer but lighter wool. It 
would, we think, be well for the breeders of these 
sheep to bear in mind that the qualities which have 



British Breeds of Sheep 95 

brought them into notice are — their aptitude to 
produce great weight and quality, both of mutton 
and wool combined, with early maturity, while they 
will bear to be stocked more thickly than other 
breeds of equal weight." There is good evidence 
of the popularity of the Shropshire, even at that 
early day, in the fact that larger numbers were 
shown than of any other breed. The same has been 
true since. The Stewards of Stock at the same 
society's show report in 1864 that "the Shrop- 
shires form, we believe, the largest of any of the 
sheep classes at the Royal meeting of the pres- 
ent year, the numbers entered being as follows : 
shearling rams, 46 ; older rams, 9 ; shearling ewes, 10. 
This number of entries we consider comparatively 
large, taking into consideration the distance at 
which the show is held from the counties whence 
they sprung. We have great pleasure in recording 
our opinion that the Shropshires exhibited at New- 
castle are, with a few exceptions, uniform in char- 
acter and quality, and combined good size and 
weight with excellent wool-growing properties; and 
that they are in all respects well calculated to main- 
tain their position as a useful and profitable breed, 
and to obtain the favor of those persons who study 
the breed and animals capable of producing at once 
a high class and plentiful supply of mutton and a 
heavy fleece of good wool. In making our selections, 
we have endeavored to adhere to the type we con- 



96 Sheep-Farming 

sider best calculated to maintain the reputation of 
the breed, and to promote the advantage of sheep 
breeders and the public generally; and while we 
have kept in view the importance of producing a 
heavy fleece, we have not forgotten the necessity 
of recommending the animals most capable of pro- 
ducing muscular flesh, and those best calculated 
in their own natures to perpetuate a symmetrical, 
heavy, and hardy sheep. We are pleased to note 
that the general excellence of the class of shearling 
rams caused us much struggle in making our de- 
cisions, no fewer than eighteen specimens being 
ordered by us into the ring to make our final selec- 
tions from, and we do not hesitate in pronouncing 
them to be the best eighteen sheep we ever saw to- 
gether." In 1884, when the Royal Society's Show 
was held at Shrewsbury, a central point in the na- 
tive district of the breed, eight hundred and seventy- 
five Shropshires were exhibited, which were twice 
as many as the number from all other breeds. In 
1883 the first volume of the Shropshire Flock Book 
of Great Britain was issued, the first British sheep 
register to be printed. In 1855 the breed first came 
to America; and in 1884 the American Shropshire 
Registry Association was formed, and the first vol- 
ume of their record issued in 1889. 

Type of the Shropshires. — The strength of the 
Shropshire is the degree to which they combine mut- 
ton and wool qualities with the type that does best 



British Breeds of Sheep 97 

as a useful breeding sheep. They are neither large 
nor small, for in comparison with the smaller South- 
downs and the larger Oxford, they may be said to 
be of medium size. The typical Shropshire is hardly 
equaled in style, as the head is held in easy poise by 
the neck, which rises erect from the shoulder, and not 
stuck straight forward as on some other breeds. 
The body runs straight from the turn of the neck 
to the top of the tail, and in best representatives, 
the back is flat and solid, and not narrow and sharp. 
The length and depth of the hind quarter is a fea- 
ture of the carcass that has improved greatly within 
recent years. The inclination to be short and 
sharp behind has been corrected by careful attention 
in breeding. A feature that has contributed to 
the style of the Shropshire is the manner in which 
the legs support the body. In the most attractive 
type, instead of the legs standing under the body, 
they are squarely placed at the four corners of it. 
The closely knit frame of a typical and vigorous 
Shropshire, wrapped in a fleece of dense and fine 
fiber, from the bridge of the nose to the hind heel, 
presents a picture of as much indifference to the 
storm's course as it would seem possible to make 
from all the attributes of sheep life. In the ram the 
head should be strong in features, without coarseness, 
wide between the eyes, comparatively short, and 
also wide in the muzzle. The eye should be large, 
and as near as possible the crystal clearness of 



98 Sheep-Farming 

spring water. The small, erect ear should be sharp, 
pointed, and not heavy or pendulous. The nose and 
face should be a rich brown, verging towards a soft 
black in color, and the bridge of it should be closely 
covered with wool that does not show any inclina- 
tion to peel about the cheeks. The neck should 
hold the head erect and be stout and short and drop 
evenly to the shoulder. The back should be flat, 
firm, and well covered, the loin wide and meaty, and 
the hindquarter above well covered and coming 
out square. Below the region of the twist, there 
should be plump, firm muscle, and on the outside of 
the thigh, the covering should be thick, giving a full 
leg of mutton. The hock should be open-angled, 
dropping straight, and not have the point of it stick- 
ing sharply out from the body. The leg should 
have wool running well down on it, and the pasterns 
should be stout and strong. In front, the chest 
should come out full and rounded, and not narrow 
and sharp. The shoulder on top must be compact 
and also fit closely to the body on the side. The 
spring of the rib should be such as to meet the 
shoulder flush and also give the body a round, cir- 
cular, and compact appearance that is usually the 
leading attribute of the easy keeper. In the ewe, 
the main differences are a refinement of the fea- 
tures of the head — slimmer, longer face, and that 
delicate expression of femininity which means a 
high development of maternity. Such usually means 



British Breeds of Sheep 99 

good nursing qualities, free milking powers, and the 
desire to cater to the comfort of her young. The 
fore quarter in the ewe is narrower and lighter as a 
rule and wider in loin and hip in conformity with 
what is universally known as the female type in 
animal life. The fleece in both sexes should be com- 
pact, clean in condition, fine in quality, and with 
sufficient length and weight to make the quality of 
the clip satisfactory. No black fibers are permis- 
sible anywhere, and the black hairs of the legs and 
face should not find their way into the fleece. When 
open at any point, the cleavage should be clear, and 
reveal a skin of a light cherry color. 

Position as producers of mutton. — The Shrop- 
shire is an early maturing sheep, as the lambs are 
usually so plump and smooth that they are ready 
for market any time within the year. They reach 
maturity at an early age, but do not weigh as much 
as the long-wooled breeds at maturity, nor can they 
show in daily gain the rapid increase that some others 
may. Their gain, however, is not that due chiefly 
to increase in frame, as in the instance of some of the 
long-wooled breeds, but rather to a combination of 
increase in both frame and flesh. As it has been 
expressed, they grow and fatten together, which 
gives them their characteristic early maturity. In 
1890 the best daily gain of the Shropshire lambs at 
the Smithfield Show, namely, .67 pound per head, 
was only surpassed among the Down breeds by a 



100 Sheep-Farming 

pen of Hampshires. The Shropshire pen averaged 
171 pounds at an average age of 254 days. The 
percentage of carcass to dressed weight in the in- 
stance of these lambs was 60.8 per cent. The next 
year two pens of Shropshire lambs succeeded in 
each making an average daily gain of .60 pound 
per head. The one averaged 164 pounds at an aver- 
age of 270 days, and the other 162 at the same age. 

The quality of Shropshire mutton. — Being fine 
in bone, skin, and fleece, it is logical to assume that 
the Shropshire produces a fine quality of flesh. In 
this feature they rank almost with the Southdown, 
which is considered preeminent in this respect. 
Not only is the mutton of fine quality, but it is also 
nice in its mixture of fat and lean. The frame of 
the Shropshire being of fine texture and compara- 
tively light, together with the fact that they are 
usually well developed in essential mutton parts, 
insures a high percentage of edible meat in propor- 
tion to the live weight. 

Qualities of the Shropshire fleece. — In respect to 
the quantity of wool that is characteristic of a Shrop- 
shire fleece, ten or twelve pounds may be advanced 
as a fair estimate. The wool being very free from 
excessive yolk and also clean as a rule, this weight, 
in view of these facts, is favorable to the breed. The 
most valuable characteristic of the fleece is its den- 
sity, which so materially assists in affording the sheep 
protection from the inclemencies of the weather. 



British Breeds of Sheep 101 

The length of the staple is very satisfactory in the 
present market, as it grades as a medium combing 
that brings a higher price and is in a stronger de- 
mand than any other grade. The staple is from 
three to four inches long uniformly over the body. 
In respect to the quality of the Shropshire fleece, 
there is considerable variation amongst the repre- 
sentatives of the breed, but not more so than in 
others, excepting the higher-bred Southdowns. The 
fleece of the best representative is soft and fine, with 
a close, even crimp from one end of the fiber to the 
other. Then this quality is characteristic of all 
regions of the body, though there are individuals 
that strongly incline to coarseness of wool about 
the thigh, neck, and head. The soundness and 
strength of the Shropshire fiber in association with 
its combination of length and quality add greatly to 
its marketable value, as these are important qual- 
ities in combing wools. In respect to the condition 
of the fleece, the Shropshire is in the fore rank. 
The fleece being dense, dirt and dust do not find 
ready entrance, and as the wool is naturally bright, 
it has a high position in regard to purity and bright- 
ness. In lustre it is seldom that a Shropshire fleece 
will show the lustre that is more or less common 
among the long-wooled breeds. The absence of lustre 
and the scarcity of yolk are frequently associated, 
and in both, the fleeces of this breed do not occupy as 
favorable a position as the other features of condition. 



102 Sheep-Farming 

Characteristics as breeding stock. — The leading 
merit of the Shropshire, in which they contest for 
supremacy only with the Dorset, is the degree in 
which they meet the requirements of good breed- 
ing stock. The rams are of good disposition, and 
reliable breeders, but it is to the ewes that we look 
to sustain the Shropshire's reputation for good breed- 
ing qualities. The ewes are excellent mothers, hav- 
ing the disposition to be attentive to their lambs in a 
kindly way, and also having characteristics of being 
prolific and milking freely. The average Shropshire 
flock will return at least a lamb and a half to a ewe, 
though there are many records of better returns than 
this. A peculiar and valuable characteristic is the 
length of time they will retain their utility in the 
flock. It is not infrequent in the pure-bred flocks 
to find ewes ten years old still producing as good 
lambs as the younger members. The presence of 
such not only indicates excellent vigor, but also 
points to a good breeding record for each year, as 
any deviation from this would mean disposal as a 
cull. As an instance in point, it will be sufficient 
to quote one from among many : A ewe pur- 
chased at a sale of a prominent breeder in Shropshire 
in 1886 when four years old was alive and well in 
1893, and her record in the seven years was the pro- 
duction of fourteen lambs, twins each year, except- 
ing one instance of a single and one of triplets. The 
ewe was eleven years old at the time the data were 



British Breeds of Sheep 103 

sent in, and was hearty then. In permanency of 
character, the Shropshire occupies a favorable posi- 
tion, though they have hardly been able to equal 
the older breeds up to this time. 

Utility for crossing. — The Shropshire has proven 
to be a valuable agent in improving Merino stocks 
so that they may more perfectly meet the demands 
of the present market for mutton and wool. The 
writer experimented with this cross for several years 
until the stock studied included sheep of the first, 
second, third, and fourth crosses. The Merino ewes 
employed in the trial were typical of the American 
Merino, being fine-fleeced, large, and vigorous, but 
without any appearance of mutton quality. The 
Shropshire rams used were typical of the breed. In 
the first cross, of the Shropshire ram on the Merino 
ewes, an increase in size and a much smoother ap- 
pearance of the body resulted from the nearer 
approach to mutton form. They are heavier than 
the original Merinos and are especially better in the 
development of mutton points. The fleece is ex- 
ceptional in the degree to which it meets the demand 
of the market for a medium combing wool. The 
fiber is coarser and longer than the pure Merino, 
but these qualities in connection with its firmness 
and strength make the fleece worth more in the 
market. The weight of the fleece remained about 
the same. The improvement consisted in weight, 
mutton form, and feeding qualities. The second 



104 Sheep-Farming 

cross, that is, a Shropshire ram on the first-cross 
ewes, is larger and fuller in mutton points, and the 
fleece is longer and stronger in fiber, though lighter 
in weight. The third cross is a still nearer approach 
to the Shropshire. In fact, they cannot be dis- 
tinguished from the pure-bred Shropshire, and for 
the market they are equally profitable. A slightly 
greater length of fiber, more strength, and coarse- 
ness characterizes the wool of this cross, while there 
is a peculiar softness noticeable in the fleeces 4 * 
with their density add greatly to their value, 
point noticeable in these trials was the rapidity ana 
certainty with which the Shropshire transmitted 
their characteristics to the Merino. The Merino is 
one of the longest established breeds that we y ive, 
and consequently quite fixed in its character tics, 
yet the Shropshire influence very materially asserted 
itself in each cross. For crossing on common sheep, 
the Shropshire has enjoyed unequaled popularity 
because of the degree to which it is capable of 
improving the common type for the requirement 
of our wool and mutton markets. 

Adaptability of Shropshire. — Compared with other 
breeds, a striking feature of the Shropshire is its 
cosmopolitan nature. As may be seen from our 
classification of the breeds, and as may be learned 
from a personal study of its characteristics, the 
Shropshire occupies a middle position. They are 
neither small nor large in size, they are medium in 




Fig. 24. — Cheviot ram and ewe shown in 1911 by G. W. Parnell, Win- 
gate, Ind. (Page 131.) 




Fig. 25. — The first prize Hampshire flock at the leading shows in 1911. 
Shown by C. O. Judd, Kent, Ohio. (Page 105.) 

Plate IX. Cheviot and Hampshire Sheep. 



British Breeds of Sheep 105 

quality, both in respect to frame and fleece, and in 
nearly all other characteristics they occupy a simi- 
lar position. Medium development in many direc- 
tions makes them sheep of exceptional combinations, 
and these add to the profit they make, for the markets 
of to-day demand a finished carcass of medium 
size. Not only does the Shropshire represent a 
desirable combination from the market point of view, 
but they also show a union of many useful qualities 
from the breeder's standpoint. While not as highly 
developed in the direction of quick gains in fatten- 
ing as some breeds, they have become the stronger 
for it in the qualities that are sought for in brood 
ewes. Exceptional development in the ability to 
take on flesh rapidly is somewhat antagonistic to 
free milking attributes in all animals, and in the na- 
ture of the Shropshire the latter leads in importance 
and profit to the flock. 

The Hampshire (Fig. 25, PL IX) 

In a description of the farming of Hampshire 
in England, an early writer says that with the ex- 
ception of an outlying block of land to the north- 
west (which he estimates at 325 square miles) the 
mainland of the county of Hampshire approaches 
in form to the parallelogram, the sides of which face 
the four cardinal points. The area is 970,470 acres 
and the number of farms 3048, and most of these are 



106 Sheep-Farming 

under 300 acres in extent. The main water-shed 
line of this county, according to the same writer, 
begins at Inkpen, Beacon, 972.8 feet above the level 
of the sea, in the North Downs, and it ends at 
Butzer Hill, altitude 882.6 feet, in the South Downs. 
The writer before quoted estimates the central chalk 
plateau at 760 square miles, while the soil of the rest 
of the country is made up of clays, marls, sands, and 
gravels. 

The Hampshire foundation stock. — The earliest 
recorded description of the foundation stock from 
which the Hampshire was evolved was written by 
Messrs. Abraham and William Driver for the Board 
of Agriculture of Great Britain in 1794, in which 
they say: "The Hampshire sheep is horned for the 
most part, with a white face, though some few have 
speckled faces ; formerly they were long-legged and 
narrow, but now much improved, being short-legged 
and well-carcassed." The sheep of Wilts and Hants, 
the original source of the Hampshire, is described 
as follows: "They were imposing-looking animals, 
long in leg, high in withers, sharp in the spine, large, 
bony, narrow, with big heads, curling horns, and 
Roman noses. They died out in Wiltshire about forty 
years since. They lived rather longer in Hants, their 
powers of enduring long traveling and severe folding, 
hard keeping, and working recommending them as 
the best manure carriers for the light lands, which 
were by this means alone kept in a state of fertility." 



British Breeds of Sheep 107 

The sources of improvement of Hampshire. — 
Writing of the sheep of South Wiltshire, or the 
chalk district, a report of 1844 says: "The princi- 
pal live stock of this division of the county consists 
of sheep, for which the nature of the soil and of the 
farms is peculiarly adapted. Southdowns are nearly 
universally the breed now, and although the sheep- 
fold is a paramount object on a South Wilts farm, 
the quality of the animal is not neglected. As much 
attention has of late years been paid to the improve- 
ment of the breed of sheep in Wiltshire as in any 
county in England. Many of the flockmasters of 
Wilts have by judicious selection of stock from Sus- 
sex (the home of the Southdown) brought the flocks 
to a high state of perfection, and their stock being 
dispersed throughout the county, has greatly im- 
proved the breed of sheep. There are a few who 
prefer the Hampshire or coarser kinds of sheep ; and 
whether the forcing of lambs from their birth to be 
fat in the autumn or for grazing as tegs is adopted, 
it appears well, as the extraordinary production of 
that breed brought to the fairs within the last few 
years will prove; but the generality of farms are 
stocked with Southdowns." A more detailed ac- 
count of the sources of improvement comes from the 
pen of John Wilkison, who says: "In the begin- 
ning of the century rams were procured from the 
best Sussex downs, less picturesque, but more sym- 
metrical ; faces and legs dark brown, fore quarters 



108 Sheep-Farming 

wide and deep, back and loins broad, ribs curved, 
back level, hind quarters square, tail well set on, 
limbs short, bone fine, wool close and firm, features 
intelligent, forehead prominent and carrying a good 
crest." The same writer is the only authority that 
may be quoted in support of the statement that 
the Cotswold has also been used in crossing on the 
original Hampshire. Continuing, he says: "But 
the existing breed has been further mixed. It is 
not everywhere a simple cross between the old 
Hampshires and the Sussex. Some thirty years or 
more since, Mr. John Twynam (now residing in 
Winchester) put Cotswold rams to his Hampshire 
Down ewes." Another source of improvement in 
the Hampshire was the better care in feeding that 
was given them. Instead of being regarded as "ma- 
nure carriers for light land," they had given them an 
unusual variety of the best foods in liberal quanti- 
ties. This is a distinctive feature of the Hampshire 
management at the time, and it has existed so for 
years. As early as 1861, John Wilkison, writing of 
the usual care given to the feeding of the lambs, 
says, "They never see an empty trough from their 
birth to their death." As to the management that 
assisted greatly in the improvement of this breed of 
sheep, a modern writer describes it in detail as fol- 
lows : "Ewes are given one pound of cake per 
head daily with turnips and hay. As soon as the 
lambs will eat they are given a corner to themselves 



British Breeds of Sheep 109 

where they are fed finely ground linseed cake, split 
peas, oats, and crushed malt. The lamb hurdle is 
from this time an institution. By its means they 
run forward and cup the first green food of the sea- 
son in the form of swede tops or rape. They are 
getting at this time eight different kinds of food, hay 
turnips, greens or rape, linseed cake, peas, oats, salt, 
and milk." "Take, for example, a fine mid-summer 
day when the lambs awaken from a fold of vetches. 
The shepherd is up betimes and begins by giving 
them an allowance of cake. He then grinds some 
mangel into the trough, which they eat with great 
relish. They are next admitted to a fresh fold of 
vetches, after which they are quietly walked away to 
a neighboring fold of good rape or cabbage. After 
two hours or more and in the heart of the afternoon, 
they are allowed to spread themselves over some old 
aftermath clover, after which they return to the 
vetch field, and after receiving another feed of corn 
they lie down to well-earned repose, having increased 
their weight over one pound each. Hay chaff is 
frequently supplied even in summer by way of 
keeping them firm in their bowels; thus a lamb 
may easily partake of six or eight pounds of food. 
Rape or cabbage or kale give way to turnips in 
late July or early August, and the allowance of 
corn is kept up from one pound to one and one half 
pounds per head. This allowance is pretty con- 
stant from birth, considering the cake given the 



110 Sheep-Farming 

ewes, which is, of course, given for the benefit of 
the lambs." 

These accounts make it evident that cross-breed- 
ing was the first source of improvement, while the 
second and most influential source was the high feed- 
ing and culture that followed the breeding operations. 

Extent of the Hampshire improvement. — In a 
prize essay written in 1847, Robert Smith says : 
"The Hampshire Downs were originally very large 
and coarse, but of late years they have been im- 
proved by an admixture of the Sussex Down ; still, 
however, they retain an extra degree of size, bone, 
and fleece to any other, and are easily distinguished 
by those characteristics. Breeders who prefer strong 
sheep consider this variety better than any other 
for enduring hardships and for general purposes." 
Writing a few years later, 1855, another authority 
states: "This rapidly increasing breed of sheep ap- 
pears to be the result of a recent cross between the 
pure Southdown and the old horned white-face sheep 
of Hampshire and Wiltshire, by which the hard- 
working though fine quality of the former is combined 
with the superior size and constitution of the latter. 
The breed was commenced at the early part of the 
present century and, by a judicious crossing, now pos- 
sesses the leading characteristics of the two parent 
breeds. Their leading characteristics, as compared 
with the Southdowns, are increased size, equal ma- 
turity, and a hardier constitution." A few years 



British Breeds of Sheep 111 

later, 1861, Mr. John Wilkinson gives his opinion 
on the influence of the cross : "A judicious system 
of crossing preserved the good qualities of both 
breeds. The hard-working qualities and hardy 
constitution and the superior size of the one have 
been combined with the smooth limbs, short legs, 
broader back, rounder barrel, more compact frame, 
increased flesh, and kinder qualities of the other. 
The horns have disappeared, the color of the face 
has turned from white to brown, and there is gen- 
erally more of the Sussex than of the Hampshire 
Down left. Still, even in appearance the new Hamp- 
shire assert their descent from the old Hampshire 
mothers. They are larger than the Sussex Downs, 
and more roomy, generally coarser, and of a heavier 
frame. Their wool is of a large staple and coarser, 
not so close, and not curling with spiral ends. But 
however extensively crossed before, the Hampshire 
blood is now generally kept pure, though there are 
not wanting, here and there, signs of degeneracy, 
sheep with tendencies to hairy wool, big bones and 
heads, and indications of the coarse and unthrifty 
ewe from which they came." The Hampshire has 
been shown at the Royal Society Show as early as 
1844, but the first description of an exhibit was 
made in 1862, when the subjoined comment was 
made on those exhibited at the Royal Agricultural 
Society Show: "The Hampshire Down sheep pre- 
sented in their various classes the usual difference 



112 Sheep-Farming 

of type between the original best County Down 
sheep with its large form and strong constitution 
and the 'improved Hampshire Down' with its 
more symmetrical form, better flesh, and finer wool. 
In each type their tendency to early maturity, which 
has given this breed of sheep their high character, 
has been properly preserved, and this is evidently a 
great point with the breeders. In the shearling rams 
great size and, in most instances, excellent quality 
of flesh and wool are found ; but the acceptance of a 
black face as^a type of the breed has led, in many 
instances, to a tendency to rustiness if not blackness 
of the wool around the ears and poll. We regard this 
as a great defect, which in common with occasional 
thickness in the neck or scrag exhibits itself in some 
cases throughout all the classes." The next year 
the report of the Stewards of the show was to the 
following effect: "The last-named gentlemen [Mr. 
W. Humphrey and Mr. James Rawlence] were the 
first who set to work in good earnest to improve 
the old Hampshire breed, which originally was cele- 
brated for its big head, long ears, and thin-fleshed 
back. In neither class, referring to the shearlings 
and the older sheep, were the enormous heads and 
upright shoulders to be found which formerly pre- 
vailed so much among the Hampshire sheep; all 
were level in their character, form, and wool, and, in 
fact, with such general uniformity that they might 
all have come from the same flock." These improve- 



British Breeds of Sheep 113 

ments have come about largely by crossing and selec- 
tion assisted also by high feeding, but the chief bene- 
fit that has followed the latter features has been the 
development of early maturity. A breeder has 
summed this characteristic in the following words : 
"Their principal points of excellence lie in their 
extraordinary early maturity coupled with a yield 
of mutton of splendid flavor and quality and with 
an abundance of fleece of finely fiber ed wool. As to 
the first point, they are unrivaled and might safely 
be pitted against any other sheep at heavy odds and 
with heavy stakes and would then undoubtedly 
prove winners. A sheep that will increase these 
qualities every day from birth to maturity, and 
weigh ninety pound carcass or dead weight at twenty- 
six weeks old, may be regarded with some surprise, 
and yet this result has been excelled by breeders of 
the improved Hampshire Down. I have had lambs 
increase .81 pound per day for the first half of their 
lives, an increase which compares very favorably 
with the .67 pound recorded from the Lincolns 
or the .52 pound recorded by the Southdowns." 
It was in 1887 that the American Hampshire Down 
Breeders' Association was formed, and in 1890 the 
first volume of their flock book was issued. The 
breed has long before this attained the fixity type and 
characteristics necessary to receive registration as a 
breed. 

Characteristics of Hampshire. — The standard of 



114 Sheep-Farming 

excellence and scale of points adopted by the Ameri- 
can Hampshire Down Association are as follows : 
Head moderately large but not coarse, well covered 
with wool on forehead and cheeks; nostrils wide; 
color (head and legs) dark brown or black; eyes 
prominent and lustrous ; ears moderately long and 
thin and dark brown or black in color ; legs well 
under outside of body, straight with good size of 
bone, black ; neck a regular taper from shoulders to 
head without any hollow in front of shoulders, set 
high up on body ; shoulders deep and full in heart 
place, with breast prominent and full ; back straight, 
with full spring of rib ; loin wide and straight with- 
out depression in front of hips ; quarters long from 
hips to rump without sloping, and deep in thigh, 
broad in hips and rump, with full hams, inside of 
thighs full. 

Mutton qualities. — While the Hampshires are not 
the finest in the quality of frame or flesh, they have 
the reputation of surpassing all others in the rapid 
gain the lambs make when well fed. At the Smithfield 
fat stock show in England, they have in the majority 
of instances led all others in the rate of daily gain. 
In 1882 the pen of Hampshires averaged .75 pound 
per head daily, which was only equaled by the pen of 
Leicester s; in 1883 two of the Hampshire pens aver- 
aged .77 pound, which led all others, and in 1885 they 
again led with a daily gain of .76 pound, and in 1886 
they were tied for first position with the Lincolns, 




■ '■■:?/■: ':•'->;•■ 




mt^M 



Fig. 26. — Champion Oxford ram at the In- 
ternational Live Stock Exposition in 1911. 
Shown by George McKerrow and Sons, 
Pewaukee, Wis. (Page 117.) 




; .) . \* :& 




Fig. 27. — Champion Oxford ewe at International Live Stock Exposition 
1911. Shown by George McKerrow and Sons. (Page 117.) 

Plate X. Oxford Down Sheep 



British Breeds of Sheep 115 

as both had representative pens that made .76 
pound per head daily. Their record begins again 
in 1889, when the best pen of Hampshire lambs 
made an average daily gain of .67 pound, averaging 
187 pounds live weight at an average age of 277 
days. In 1891 the best gain made by Hampshires 
in the lamb class was .70 by a pen averaging 220 
pounds at an average age of 314 days. In 1892 
the best gain among the Hampshire lambs was .73 
pound, made by a pen averaging 220 pounds at an 
average age of 314 days. These lambs in the 
slaughter test returned a percentage of 57.73 of carcass 
to live weight. In 1894 the best gain in the Hamp- 
shire lamb classes was .71 pound, made by a pen 
averaging 218 pounds at an average age of 307 days. 
The lambs in the slaughter test yielded a percentage 
of 64.68. In the yearling class, the greatest daily 
gain was .42, made by two pens, each averaging 660 
days old and weighing an average of 280 pounds and 
282 pounds. One of these pens dressed 65.84 in the 
slaughter test. This year the highest rate of gain was 
.82 pound per head daily, they averaging 246 pounds 
at an average age of 300 days. While the Hamp- 
shires have made a good record, yet at the later 
shows they have not been able to maintain their 
previous position, as the long-wooled breeds, espe- 
cially the Cots wold, have been surpassing them in this 
single feature of rate of gain. In rate of daily 
increase, it is likely that the Hampshires surpass the 



116 Sheep-Farming 

rest of the Down breeds, but they are inferior to the 
latter in quality of frame and flesh. The Hampshires 
are inclined to be coarse in bone, coarse in texture of 
skin, and also in fleeces, all of which are opposed to 
fine quality of mutton. 

Characteristics of Hampshire fleece. — The fleece 
of the Hampshire, while possessing the quality of 
density, is usually light, as eight pounds would be an 
average return in unwashed wool from a flock. The 
wool is coarse, as a rule, and frequently discolored. 
Some districts in their native home have for a soil a 
red clay which discolors the wool and renders the 
fleece less valuable. The fleece covers the body, 
as it does not peel much from the head or from the 
belly. As a rule, the fleece is moist, indicating a 
healthy and satisfactory condition in respect to the 
quantity of yolk present. The wool is of medium 
length, being about three inches long. 

Attributes for breeding purposes. — The Hampshire 
is equally prolific with the other Down breeds. It 
has been advanced against the breed that the lambs 
make trouble in lambing, owing to the size and shape 
of the head. It is certain that one of the char- 
acteristics of the breed is to drop very heavy and 
vigorous lambs. One instance has been registered 
of a Hampshire lamb weighing eighteen pounds at 
birth. Ordinary lambs will only weigh one half of 
this. The ewes and the rams are exceptional in 
constitution. For crossing purposes, the Hampshire 



British Breeds of Sheep 117 

has found favor when early lambs find a profitable 
market, for the lambs of this breeding weigh heavier 
at an early age. On ewes that have an abundance 
of quality, the Hampshire would make a good cross 
for the purpose of producing lambs to meet the wants 
of the early market. 

Adaptability of Hampshire. — Under conditions 
where the food is abundant and the forced system of 
breeding may be followed, the Hampshire will give 
returns in gain equal to the long-wooled breeds, 
while they may be said to be able to withstand in- 
clemencies of the weather to better advantage, as 
their fleeces are closer and they are naturally more 
vigorous. For folding on green crops, rape, vetches, 
or turnips, with heavy grain feeding in addition, 
there is no breed among the Downs that will give 
returns equal to the Hampshire, and where this 
system of management may be adopted, and the 
market is not too sensitive in regard to the quality, 
the Hampshire will prove as profitable as any breed. 

The Oxford Down (PI. X) 

The Oxford Down has originated from crossing 
Cotswold rams on Hampshire and Southdown ewes, 
One of the first breeders writes: "The Oxfordshire 
Down breed of sheep is the result of a cross between 
a long-wooled ram and a Southdown or Hampshire 
Down ewe. The crossing was commenced as far 



118 Sheep-Farming 

back as 1830. Mr. Twyman claims to be the pio- 
neer in this movement. Be this as it may, he may 
safely assert that he was the first to call public at- 
tention to his mode of crossing. As far back as 
November 27, 1837, this worthy and enterprising 
gentleman wrote the Mark Lane Express. 'It is 
seven years since I introduced an upland Cotswold 
ram among a few Hampshire Down ewes, the produce 
of which, living with the Downs, soon convinced me of 
their superiority.' " Contemporaries of Mr. Twyman 
were Mr. Samuel Dreuce of Eynsham, Mr. W. Gillett 
of Southleigh, Mr. Blake of Stanton Harcourt, Mr. 
Hitchman of Little Milton, and Mr. Joseph Water- 
peny. Mr. Dreuce, in an article in the Royal Agricul- 
tural Society Journal of 1853, page 212, observed : 
"It is now twenty years since I began crossing be- 
tween the Southdown and Cotswold sheep, and with 
the ordinary skill of sheep-farming, I find no difficulty 
in keeping the form and the size of the animal as it 
should be." The writer before referred to, Mr. 
Howard, was one of the oldest living breeders of 
Oxfordshire Downs, he having been a prize winner 
at Smithfield as early as 1849. 

Formation of Oxford Down as a breed. — An early 
authority gives the following account of the progress 
made in the formation of this breed at that time : 
"The produce of good and well -selected cross-bred 
ewes and rams are now more uniform in color and 
size than sheep bred from Down mothers and Cots- 



British Breeds of Sheep 119 

wold sires. There formerly existed much difficulty 
in keeping a newly formed half-bred flock to one 
character. The first cross and their produce will 
be dissimilar; some will partake too much of the 
long wool, while others are too small and short- 
coated. The owner formerly divided his flock into 
three parts, putting a half-bred ram to the ewes that 
were about right, a Cotswold to the smaller ones, and 
a Down to the coarser sheep. By constant atten- 
tion to these points, a flock may be brought to some 
degree of uniformity; but the breeder frequently 
found that the fleece was a little too short or the face 
rather too white ; by using pure Cotswold or Down 
rams, he rushed into the other extreme, the produce 
too much resembling their sires. There is now no 
need of running back to the pure breeds, as there are 
numerous Down-Cotswold rams to be found varying 
in size, color, and wool, according to the fancy of the 
breeder, which will meet the deficiencies of any half- 
bred flock." In the same report, this author con- 
tinues : "The Down Cotswold sheep of this country 
were originally a cross between the Cotswold ram 
and the Hampshire Down ewe, but the cross having 
been bred from nearly twenty years without the in- 
fusion of any fresh blood has become a distinct 
breed." 

Qualities desired by breeders of Oxford Downs. — 
The aim of the early breeders seemed to be to produce 
a sheep with the weight of a long-wooled representa- 



120 Sheep-Farming 

tive, and the quality of a Down. As Clare Sewell 
Read expressed it, the breeders sought an improve- 
ment of the Cotswold at that time because their 
meat gave too much to the grease pot and too little 
to the table, the mutton at that day selling for a 
penny less per pound than that of the Downs. 

The same writer faulted the Downs for the condi- 
tions of Oxfordshire, because they are not adapted 
for folding, as he says : "In feeding these two sort of 
sheep on dirty land, the Downs with short coats do 
not keep themselves as clean as the half-breeds. The 
Down is constantly moving about and will amble 
round a turnip and walk about his fold, while his less 
active neighbor will eat his feed and quietly lie down." 
It will be seen that the object of the breeders was to 
produce a sheep adapted to the arable farming con- 
ditions of Oxfordshire — a sheep that would stand 
folding and heavy feeding and yet retain some of 
the quality of meat and wool and hardihood charac- 
teristic of the more active Down breeds. 

Recognition as a breed, — The Royal Agricultural 
Society, formed in 1838, held its first exhibition at 
Oxford, 1839, and in the first report of the society 
the only breeds recognized are the Leicester and the 
Southdown, there being another class called "long- 
wooled," in which Cotswold and Oxfordshires were 
shown. The latter were then considered long- 
wooled, and in this class at the exhibition mentioned, 
their premiums were awarded to Oxfordshire rams 



British Breeds of Sheep 121 

and ewes. They were shown year after year in this 
class, but the desire of the breeders seemed to be to 
get a place among the short-wooled class, and finally 
in 1861 the attempt was made to show these in the 
class for "short-wooled" sheep not Southdown or 
Shropshire. The judges, however, excluded them 
from competition in this class, but the sheep were 
commended so, that in December, 1861, the Royal 
Agriculture Society Council gave them a class, and 
they assumed the status of a breed. 

Characteristics of Oxfords. — The scale of points 
adopted by the American Oxford Down Record 
Association is as follows : — 

Breed type of animals. — Form of a good general appear- 
ance, made by a well-balanced conformation, free 
from coarseness in any part, and showing good style 

both at rest and in motion 15 

Head of moderate length and width between the ears and 
between the eyes, and well covered with wool over 
poll and down to the eyes. Color of the face an even 
dark gray or brown, either with or without gray spot 

on tip of nose 6 

When fully matured and in good condition rams should 

weigh 250 to 350 pounds, ewes, 180 to 275 pounds . 5 
Ears medium size, not too thick and of even brown or dark 
gray color 2 

Legs short, strong in bone, flat and of even dark gray 
or brown color, placed squarely under the body and 
well apart % 

Constitution. — Large around the heart and wide and full 

in the chest . . .10 



122 Sheep-Farming 

Movement must be bold and vigorous .... 5 
Eyes bold, prominent, and bright ..... 4 

Skin bright pink in color 3 

Neck strong and muscular in rams and well set on in both 
sexes .......... 3 

Mutton form and quality. — Wide and straight on shoul- 
ders, back, loin, and rump, from base of neck to tail . 15 
Full shoulders and thighs, well meated both inside and 

outside 5 

Flanks well filled and strong so as to make the lower lines 
of the body as straight as possible, and the side lines 

straight and rather full 4 

The whole carcass evenly covered with well-marbled 

meat 6 

Wool. — Fleece of moderate length, close, and of even 
quality, covering the whole carcass well, and free 
from black patches upon the body, neck, or head . 15 

Mutton qualities. — The Oxford Down is the heav- 
iest of any of the Down breeds at maturity, and 
is also larger in size. At the Smithfield show, they 
have made an excellent record in showing capacity 
to make rapid gains when fed for show purposes. 
In 1884 at this show, the pen of Oxford lambs re- 
served for the breed cup made .78 pound per head 
daily gain, which was the highest up to that time. 
In 1885 the first prize pen of lambs averaged .75 
pound per head daily gain, which was also unusually 
high. The pen of lambs shown in 1887 averaged 
277 days old and weighed an average of 192 pounds, 
or an average gain of .69 pound. In 1890 two pens 
of lambs each made an average of .65 pound per 



British Breeds of Sheep 123 

head daily, the one pen being an average of 193 
pounds at 291 days old, and the other 197 at 300 
days old. In 1891 the Oxfordshire won the cham- 
pionship of the short-wooled classes, and the same 
pen won the breed cup. They averaged 314 days 
old, weight 216 pounds, daily gain per head .68 
pound. In the lamb classes of 1892, the best pen 
of Oxfords made a daily gain of .67 pound as they 
averaged 314 days old and weighed an average of 
211 pounds. This pen was in reserve for the cham- 
pionship for short-wooled classes. In the slaughter 
test, they dressed the unusually high percentage of 
67.05. In the yearling class the same year, the best 
gain reported was .43 pound by a pen weighing an 
average of 289 pounds at an average of 667 days. 
In 1893 the best gain recorded among the lamb 
classes was .67, made by a pen averaging 215 pounds 
in weight at an average age of 314 days. The follow- 
ing year, 1894, the daily gain per head reached .68 
in the instance of the Oxford lambs, as they weighed 
an average of 180 pounds at 263 days old. 

From these records it is evident that the Oxford 
is a good feeding sheep, having the ability of the long- 
wooled breeds to attain heavy weights and yet retain 
much of the quality of frame so characteristic of the 
other Downs. 

Fleece characteristics of Oxford Down. — The Oxford 
yields the heaviest fleece of wool of any of the Down 
breeds. From 10 to 12 pounds unwashed wool 



124 Sheep-Farming 

would fairly represent the average of most flocks, 
though 15 pounds is a common weight to be reached 
by individuals. The wool is 4 to 5 inches long and 
comparatively fine in fiber for the length. There is 
probably more variation in the fineness of the fiber 
in Oxford Down fleeces than in any other breed, the 
wool of some representatives being remarkably fine 
in fiber, while others are nearly as coarse as some of 
the long-wooled breeds. ^The fleece is much denser 
and more compact than any of the long-wooled rep- 
resentatives, as it is very similar to that of the other 
Downs in that point. 

Breeding qualities. — The Oxford are prolific and 
the ewes are good nurses. A lamb and a half as an 
average from each ewe in the flock is not uncommon, 
and this is good testimony not only to the prolificacy 
of the breed, but also offers good evidence of the 
qualities of the ewes as mothers. One of the leading 
agricultural societies of the country has offered 
prizes to the shepherd who shall rear up to the first 
of May the greatest number of lambs from the ewes 
put to the ram. In 1886 the winner reared 198 
lambs from 130 ewes, slightly better than one and 
one half lambs from each ewe in the flock previous to 
September. The next year in the same flock, 132 
ewes gave a return of 213 lambs reared by the first 
of May. There are other instances of larger returns 
than this from smaller flocks, but those referred to 
are satisfactory evidence of prolificacy and good 



British Breeds of Sheep 125 

nursing qualities of the Oxfords. As a rule, the Ox- 
fords are reliable breeders, though there is perhaps 
more variation in the results of the mating than is 
desirable. The breed is growing more permanent 
in character and type, and as they become more 
strongly developed, greater certainty in the reproduc- 
tion of their qualities will result. 

Adaptability of Oxford Down. — Being a large 
sheep, the Oxford must necessarily have good fare, 
and that implies abundant pasturage with the arable 
land to grow the fodder and grain crops that are nec- 
essary for making heavy weights. The Oxford is of 
rugged constitution and able to withstand exposure, 
but it does not possess the activity and disposition 
required of good foraging sheep. 

The Suffolk 

The home of the Suffolk is in southeastern Eng- 
land, chiefly in the shires of Norfolk, Suffolk, and 
Essex. The land upon which and for which the 
breed has been developed is somewhat elevated and 
exposed to dry easterly winds. The grasses are 
referred to by Low as hard and wiry and the sheep 
as having to traverse larger areas in grazing than in 
other sheep-raising areas. The native type evolved 
before systematic improvement began was known 
as the old Norfolk breed. They were long-bodied 
and muscular, long in limb, and carried their heads 



126 Sheep-Farming 

erect. They were very black in coloring of face and 
legs, and both sexes were horned. 

With the improvement in agriculture, the flocks 
in this section felt the influence of the Southdown. 
In 1847 it was stated, "Breeding sheep are chiefly a 
cross between the Down and old Norfolk." Other 
breeds were used, but the Southdown is responsible for 
such of the improvement as can be attributed to 
outside blood. For some years the stock was known 
as Southdown-Norfolk. In 1859 classes were given 
them at the Norfolk Agricultural Association's meet- 
ing, and they were named Suffolks. In 1867 the 
Royal Agricultural Society offered special prizes for 
the breed, and since 1880 it has been included in the 
classifications of the shows of the Royal Agricultural 
Society and the Smithfield Club. In recent years 
the breed has won a creditable record in the slaughter 
tests at Smithfield. 

In size, the Suffolk is larger than the Shropshire, 
though smaller than the Hampshire. Its striking 
characteristics are its dark black face with no wool 
forward of the poll and the bare black legs. It fre- 
quently stands rather high, an appearance sometimes 
accentuated by shortness of belly wool. While hold- 
ing a firm place in the intensive agriculture of its 
native counties, it has not obtained a very wide popu- 
larity in America. This may be partly because 
it does not represent such a combination of wool 
and mutton as is found in other Down breeds. The 



British Breeds of Sheep 127 

lambs are usually black at birth, and the crop some- 
times amounts to one hundred and fifty per cent. 
The ewes are particularly heavy milkers. 



The Dorset Horn (Fig. 28, p. 131) 

The horned feature of Dorset rams and ewes 
suggests the thought of their having descended from 
the same original stock as the Merino. Though there 
are few horned breeds of British sheep, the unim- 
proved stock was commonly horned, as shown in the 
discussions of the other breeds. That the Dorset 
is mainly distinct from other British breeds is shown 
by the fact that it was the only white-faced British 
breed with horns. The stock from which the present 
breed was derived seems to have been native from 
very early times to south and part of central England, 
particularly the counties of Somerset and Dorset. 
In relation to their origin, Marshall, writing in the 
eighteenth century, mentions the fact of a race of 
sheep inhabiting a great part of Devonshire, some of 
which were horned. He also remarked that in the 
different varieties of the breed there were certain 
individuals that have so strong a resemblance to 
the present breed of Dorsetshire as to leave little 
doubt of their having a natural alliance and, as bear- 
ing out this theory, he alludes to the fact of the Dor- 
setshire or "house lamb" breed being found in great 
purity in the vale of Exeter and that one flock of 



128 Sheep-Farming 

this description that he found in a state of neglect 
was fast reverting to the breed of the country. 

This type of sheep in its native section seems to 
have always been noted for its fecundity, which is 
characteristic to-day as their distinguishing utilitarian 
point. The active improvement of the Dorset came 
somewhat later than that of the Leicester and the 
Southdown ; although rams of these breeds were con- 
siderably used in Somerset and Dorset, their use was 
mainly for producing market stock and the breed of to- 
day shows no evidences of indebtedness to other breeds. 

"In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, 
when the higher price of Southdown wool induced 
many flockmasters to keep that breed instead of the 
native Dorset sheep, the breeders in West Dorset, 
claiming faith in their Dorset sheep as the breeds 
most suited for their locality, instead of giving them 
up, set to work to improve them by selection of the 
type desired, and at the same time to retain all their 
good qualities. In this they were successful, the 
dark color on the noses disappeared, the horns ceased 
in great measure to grow upwards and backwards, 
and as a rule curled round by the side of the face, 
without rising above the head or inclining backwards. 
Their fore quarters became heavier and thicker 
through, the good qualities of both mutton and wool 
were present, as well as those noted characteristics 
of fecundity, hardiness, and early maturity." 1 

1 Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders' Association Flock Book, Vol. I. 



British Breeds of Sheep 129 

The first occasion on which separate classes were 
provided by the Royal Agricultural Society for Dor- 
set sheep appears to have been at the Battersea 
meeting in 1862, when the judges reported that "the 
competition in these classes was very limited, but 
the animals exhibited were a very superior quality 
and represented admirably the character and excel- 
lence of the breed." They were next exhibited in 
1865 at Plymouth. 1 Sheep of Somerset and Dorset 
were classed together as late as 1890. 

The following, written in 1892 for the first volume 
of the Dorset Horn Flock Book, gives an insight 
into the intensive sheep -farming of England : — 

"The general management of the breed in Dorset 
is as follows : About one to one and one half 
ewes are kept to the acre, according to the quality 
of the land and the amount of water, meadow, and 
pasture attached to it. They require plenty of room 
and are generally allowed to roam the pasture in the 
daytime, being brought to the arable land at night. 
They take the ram fully two months earlier than any 
other breed and the general lambing time for the flock 
ewes is about Christmas and up to the middle of 
January. The off-going ewes are sold in lamb 
in the months of September and October and drop 
their lambs in October and November, the lambs 
being fattened for the London market. The flock 
ewes generally lamb down on the grass; they are 

1 Dorset Horn Flock Book, Vol. I. 



130 Sheep-Farming 

then sent on to roots, the lambs being allowed to 
run forward. The lambs remain with the ewes till 
some time in May, when they are weaned and then 
go on to good sound grass till the fodder crops — 
rye, vetches, or trifolium — are fit to feed. They 
remain on vetches till about the end of June. As 
most of the lambs are fattened, they receive as much 
cake and corn as they will eat, the object being to fat 
them off as quickly as possible. They receive about 
one fourth pound to one half pound of cake or corn per 
head per day, with, generally, some peas. With such 
keep they would in a good season be fit to turn off 
about the first week in April. The lambs born in 
October and November receive good feeding and are 
generally ready for the butcher when from ten to 
twelve weeks old, when they average from ten to four- 
teen pounds a quarter and go to the London market." 
The breed of to-day is distinguished by the total 
absence of black markings and by the horns in both 
sexes. The best individuals are of the same mutton 
conformation found in other breeds. The most 
common objectionable features are found in the 
shoulders and chests. The wool is shorter than in 
most of the Down breeds, though usually the fleece 
is quite dense and compact and the fiber averages 
well in fineness. There is a tendency to lightness of 
wooling on the belly, that gives an undue appearance 
of lacking depth of body. The rate of increase is a 
valuable character, running as high as one hundred 



British Breeds of Sheep 



131 



and eighty per cent of the number of ewes. It is the 
early lambing propensity that gives the Dorset its 
greatest popularity. Two lambings per year are possi- 
ble in most instances. It is sometimes recommended 
that the fall-dropped lambs be sired by Down rams 
and all marketed, and the spring crop be pure bred for 







Fig. 28. — A Dorset ram shown in 1911 by Nash Bros., Tipton, Ind. 



sale or replenishing the flock. Many of the friends of 
the breed, however, advise that continued twice-a-year 
breeding impairs the real value of the flock. The value 
of lambs ready for market in early winter makes their 
production an attractive business to flock masters who 
have the skill necessary to raise them and suitable mar- 
keting facilities. The Dorset ewe has a pronounced 
propensity to come in season and get in lamb at a 
much earlier date than is common to the other breeds. 



132 Sheep-Farming 

The Cheviot (Fig. 24, PL IX) 

The conditions for which the Cheviot breed has 
been developed are such as to render it adapted to 
sections much different from those described for the 
breeds already discussed. The Cheviot Hills, from 
which the breed derives its name, are a range of 
beautiful conical mountains, lying mainly in Nor- 
thumberland County, England, and Roxbury County, 
Scotland. Only one of the summits is higher than 
2000 feet, so, while the breed is at home in a broken 
and uneven country, it cannot be called, in the true 
sense, a mountain breed. The vegetation of the 
area is varied and often extends to the top of the 
mountains. The crops produced on the lower parts 
are used in wintering the flocks. Sheep are the main 
product and reliance, and more are reared than can 
be prepared for market at home. There is a wide 
trade in stock to go to richer farming sections for 
fattening. "Cast" ewes, or five-years-olds, are 
commonly sold into the feeding sections to be bred 
to rams of other breeds and be prepared for market 
at about the same time as their lambs. 

The stock from which the Cheviot was developed 
has existed in the section for as long a time as is 
covered by the records of British agricultural affairs. 
As this country was the meeting ground of the contend- 
ing and marauding border chieftains, the sheep were 
little improved and imperfectly cared for until more 



British Breeds of Sheep 133 

peaceful days in the latter part of the eighteenth 
century. There is record of use of rams of Lincoln- 
shire for improving the form and fattening qualities. 
The wool-bearing qualities were the subject of atten- 
tion in 1790 and the following years. It was at this 
time that their present name came into use, having 
previously been " long sheep," and such they were by 
contrast with the short appearing bodies of the black- 
faced sheep in adjoining territory. The improve- 
ment by breeding mainly from within the stock itself 
gave them a wide popularity, that was curtailed some- 
what by a severe storm in 1860 that demonstrated 
that the heath sheep were better able to withstand 
extreme hardship in the most exposed sections. 

The type of body aimed at by breeders of Cheviots 
is the same as desired in other breeds, and in the range 
of weights it is comparable to the Shropshire. Some 
very strong backs and heavy twists are found as well 
as tendencies to light fronts and sharp shoulders. 
The distinguishing characteristics are the shape and 
expression of the head, the general contour as con- 
tributed to largely by the fleece, and the tempera- 
ment. The head is short and broad, the nose strong, 
and the eyes usually prominent. It is always white, 
except for black nostrils, and covered with short, 
hard hair. The long wool coming up to the line of 
the ears, which are pointed and active, helps to give an 
appearance that is unusually attractive. 

The fleece is of true middle wool type, but of longer 



134 Sheep-Farming 

staple than in most of the Down breeds, which length 
and compactness upon a rather close-made body gives 
a distinctive appearance. In temperament, as might 
be judged from the appearance of the head and 
residence in the native hills, the sheep is lively and 
quick, well adapted to an uneven country. 

The mutton- and wool-bearing qualities and the 
uniqueness of its appearance have brought the sheep 
to many American farms in which the topography 
is in no way comparable to the Cheviot Hills. 

The Black-Faced Highland 

This breed has won and held the preference of 
the sheep-raisers in the higher and more rugged lands 
of Scotland, beyond the habitat of the Cheviot. It 
is sometimes called the Black-Faced Heath breed, 
as expressing its adaptability to the heath country 
of sparser and coarser vegetation. It was also known 
as the " short " breed in contrast to the " long " or 
Cheviot breed. The original stock appears to have 
entered from England about 1780, but as to its blood 
lines prior to that time, nothing definite is recorded. 
It has been brought to a high state of perfection by care- 
ful breeding. Comparatively few are fattened upon 
the farms where bred, being sold into the richer farm- 
ing sections for that purpose. Their distinguishing 
features are their short bodies, long, coarse, and some- 
times hairy fleeces, and the black or broken colored 
horned heads. The fleece is of the long-wool type. 




Fig. 29. — Feeling the fullness of the neck. (Page 141.) 





4&m 


■ ^V 


B 







Fig. 30. — With one hand on top and the other below, estimate the depth 
of the chest. (Page 141.) 

Plate XI. Judging Sheep. 



CHAPTER V 
FORMATION OF A FLOCK 

It is seldom advisable for the beginner in any 
kind of stock-breeding to begin with the expectation 
of offering the increase of the herd or flock for sale 
as breeding animals. 

There are many considerations in preparing stock 
for sale and in finding buyers that the novice can 
best leave until he has become experienced in breed- 
ing and feeding the class of stock he has chosen. 
This idea is even more applicable to sheep than to 
other classes of farm stock. 

Pure-breds versus grades for foundation stock. — 
One who is not accustomed to caring for sheep is 
unlikely to produce many animals in the first few 
years of the enterprise that will command an en- 
couraging figure as breeding stock. The popularity 
of a pure-bred flock must always rest upon the ability 
of its individuals to impart qualities of economic 
value to stock that is handled for the direct pro- 
duction of meat or wool. In order to establish in 
his flock the necessary qualities of actual commercial 
utility, the breeder cannot afford to miss the aid and 
direction to be secured through selling wool and mut- 
ton of the first surplus stock in the regular market. 

135 



136 Sheep-Farming 

If guided by what may be so learned of commercial 
requirements and what is revealed of the difference 
in value and cost of the product of individual mem- 
bers of the flock, the best possible foundation is 
assured. Should the pure-bred business seem at- 
tractive at a later time, it may be entered in a very 
favorable way. This, however, assumes that the 
initial stock was pure bred and that the stock re- 
tained for breeders has been kept registered. 

If one is unwilling at the outset to risk investing 
the amount necessary to procure pure-bred stock, 
equally valuable experience may be obtained with 
high-grade females and pure-bred males. Such 
stock may also furnish a good foundation for a 
flock that it is intended to maintain for commercial 
purposes only. In any case, the main point to be 
considered is the' actual individual merit of the 
animals themselves rather than the fact of their 
eligibility to registration. , 

A novice cannot afford to expend his time and 
study and bestow his crops upon animals that are 
not bred to respond to skillful care and feeding. In- 
dividually, good sheep are much more likely to be 
found in pure-bred flocks than in grade flocks, but 
they may be secured from the latter. If so, and they 
have a sufficient number of crosses in them to guaran- 
tee the transmission of their excellence, they are 
good property. If such were procured by a person 
who should decide in a few years to handle pure- 



Formation of a Flock 137 

breds, he would be under the necessity of purchasing 
new stock upon which to found the pure-bred 
flock. 

Numbers are wholly subordinate to merit in the 
initial stock. On an average-sized farm where other 
stock is kept, a dozen ewes or even half a dozen will 
prove satisfactory as the start for a flock. A larger 
number has the advantage with some persons of 
insuring interest and the devotion of time and care 
that might not be afforded a smaller and seemingly 
less significant number. If a larger number of the 
right kind can be secured, it is well to do so, but 
there can be no true business economy in sacrificing 
merit to get numbers. 

Selecting foundation stock. — In considering that 
sheep are to be kept upon the farm, it is assumed that 
the place they are to occupy has been decided upon. 
While sheep have a value as gleaners and scavengers, 
the keeping of them cannot be profitable unless they 
are so cared for as to permit the exercise of their 
peculiar advantage in economy of production. The 
keeping of sheep having been decided upon, the mat- 
ter next in order and coming before the choice of a 
breed is the plan of handling. The kind of pasture, 
the extent of use of forage crops, the age to market, 
are all matters that need to be settled for the home 
conditions and market before coming to a decision 
as to the kind of sheep likely to prove most satis- 
factory. 



138 Sheep-Farming 

The Merino types and the Rambouillet have ad- 
vantages over the British breeds in special resistance 
to the effects of close herding and in being somewhat 
less susceptible to injury from internal parasites. 
The fine wool at times commands high prices. 
They adapt themselves to a wide variety of soil 
conditions. Wool is a staple product and easily 
and safely held. 

Depending solely upon wool to repay expense 
of keeping and furnish revenue from land is a safe 
venture in few if any parts of the United States. 
Some breeders will doubtless continue to raise the 
heavy-folded and light-bodied types for use in breed- 
ing for more commercial types, but economical farm 
practice must place some reliance on the mutton value 
of the increase and old breeding-stock. If wool 
is to be made the first consideration and mutton a 
secondary one, profitable types can be found in the 
Delaine and Rambouillet breeds. 

Where meat-production is paramount, the choice 
lies between the British long-wool and middle-wool 
groups of breeds. The former come to market 
conditions at rather heavier weights than are most 
popular in the meat trade. The long-wool breeds 
grow rapidly and, when grown, fatten easily. Their 
wool is in special demand in some years, and their 
long breeding under the conditions described gives 
them inherent qualities that adapt them to corre- 
sponding conditions elsewhere. 




Fig. 31. — Notice the heart girth by the width between the hands. 




Fig. 32. — With the hand perfectly flat note the levelness of the back, its 
firmness and covering. (Pages 141, 142.) 



Plate XII. Judging Sheep. 



Formation of a Flock 139 

The middle-wool breeds are so numerous and spring 
from such a variety of conditions and systems of 
handling that for any farm that is not so low as to 
limit the choice to the long- wools, there can be found 
a breed already improved and adapted to its peculiar- 
ities. It is a mistake to expect good results from 
sheep of any breed when placed in an environment 
materially different from' that of the native home of 
the breed or expect them to mature earlier or later 
or at different weights than were common to their 
ancestors. 

Breed type. — It is not points of conformation that 
adapt a sheep of a particular breed to specific con- 
ditions, though size alone may indicate rate of 
growth and maturity. All the mutton breeds have 
been bred according to the same general standard; 
some breeds approach the ideal more uniformly 
and more closely than others. In the breeds that 
are less uniformly close to the mutton ideal, there is 
always some feature of ability to respond to certain 
conditions and methods of handling that makes 
them most economical in the sections in which they 
have been developed. While breeding for a valuable 
carcass and adaptability, the improvers of the breeds 
retained the features of general form, shape of head, 
character of ear, facial coloring and wooling of face 
or the absence of it, largely as they were found in 
the original stock with which the improvement be- 
gan. These distinguishing features have received 



140 Sheep-Farming 

the attention of the breeders along with form, fleece, 
and feeding capacity. They serve to give uniformity 
in the appearance of the flock and to set it apart 
from other breeds. The latter purpose is analogous 
to a "trade-mark." The possession of the special 
breed points is a guarantee that the animal comes 
from stock the breeding of which has been directed 
by the leading men connected with the breed. 
Breed type, therefore, aside from its own secondary 
value, argues for the animal exhibiting it, the pos- 
session of those inherent habits and special qualities 
that give the breed its special field of usefulness. 
The foregoing explains the breeder's great apprecia- 
tion of type, an attitude which the novice is sometimes 
inclined to consider as a matter more of fancy than 
of utility. Type cannot be lost sight of by the sheep- 
raiser who would maintain a flock with uniformity 
in character, manner of development and adaptability, 
whether it is the purpose to dispose of the surplus 
as breeders or to finish them for market. 

The presence of breed type does not remove the 
necessity of making sure that the animals selected 
have also the individual points of build that give 
them the greatest commercial value and that indicate 
the greatest vigor and thrift. In fine-wool sheep, 
the fleece is the main point to be studied. After 
studying the fleece, the vigor and stamina may be 
judged by the chest capacity and the expression of 
the face and the carriage and boldness of movement. 



Formation of a Flock 141 

Judging sheep. — In the mutton breeds, the same 
points are relied upon, but it is also necessary, unless 
the sheep is newly shorn, to use the hands to find out 
just how the animal is built. 

In judging sheep, it is advisable to adopt a certain 
course of procedure, so that nothing may be missed, 
and each motion be made to disclose something in 
regard to the merit or demerit of a sheep. As in 
judging all other classes of stock, a system of exami- 
nation should be adopted and very closely adhered to. 
The best course to follow, perhaps, is to begin at the 
head. With finger and thumb remove the lower 
lip so that the teeth may be seen. Then, with the hand 
under the jaw, look carefully over the head, seeing 
that the eyes are all right, the head of good shape, 
no appearance of horns in those breeds that are 
hornless, while in those with horns note that the latter 
spring clear from the head. Then pass to the neck, 
feeling with the hands the course of the neck, and 
in that way determine the length of it, the thickness 
of it, and the way it swells to meet the shoulder 
at the shoulder vein. (See Fig. 29.) Then pass down 
to the brisket, putting one hand on the floor of the 
chest and the other at the top of the shoulder, and 
in this way form an idea as to depth of the sheep 
through these parts. (See Fig. 30.) Then pass to 
the shoulder, noticing how it is covered with flesh, 
and up to the top, also taking the girth or the spring 
of the ribs of the sheep. (See Fig. 31.) From the 



142 Sheep-Farming 

top of the shoulder, using one hand, follow the line 
of the back to the end of the body. (See Fig. 32.) 
By carefully handling these parts, the fleshiness of 
the sheep or the way the ribs are covered and the 
straightness of the back are determined, and at the 
same time the spring of the ribs is made apparent. 
The width of the loin should then be taken, and the 
covering and the thickness of it should also be noticed. 
(See Fig. 33.) The width at the hips should then be 
observed, and turning to one side and using the two 
hands, the length from the hip to the end of the hind 
quarter should be made apparent between the two 
hands. Then the way the hind quarter is carried 
back and the fullness should also be examined. 
(See Fig. 34.) Following down towards the leg, the 
development of the thigh on the outside requires 
examination. And then with the hand the quarters 
or the twist between the legs should be firmly felt. 
(See Fig. 35.) In Figure 36, the proper method of 
opening the fleece is shown. 

Deception in form due to trimming. — In this way, 
the sheep has been thoroughly examined as to form, 
but it is to be remembered that the hand should be 
thoroughly relied on to detect all discrepancies in 
form, and unless the sheep is carefully handled the 
examiner is very likely to be deceived. The wool 
of all show sheep and fat stock is always trimmed, 
and the trimmer possessing skill can make a sheep 
of any desired form, providing the wool is long enough 




Fig. 33. — Taking the width of loin, also note thickness. (Page 142.) 




Fig. 34. — Noting the degree to which the width of body is carried to the 
end. (Page 142.) 



Plate XIII. Judging Sheep. 



Formation of a Flock 143 

and the sheep approaches somewhat towards the 
form that is being imitated. 

Quality. — After the form of the sheep has been 
carefully gone over, the quality should be noted. 
The cleanness of the bone, the apparent strength of 
it, and the nature of the hair that covers the face 
and legs should be noted. These are important 
in either breeding sheep or fat sheep. It is, perhaps, 
most valuable from the butcher's standpoint, be- 
cause the waste is less from a sheep of good quality 
than it is from one that is inferior, but sheep of the 
best quality will not dress much over fifty per cent of 
their live weight. 

The ram. — Aside from the breed type, the ram 
should show masculinity in many features. In 
those breeds that have horns, the latter should 
spring strong from the head and turn free from the 
face. In all rams, the face should be broad between 
the eyes, somewhat short, with a strong nose. The 
crest or scrag should be thick and rising and the neck 
full. A point deserving emphasis is the depth of 
the chest. The body should sink deep between the 
fore legs, and the ribs back of the shoulder should be 
deep and round, making the girth large and the 
brisket prominent and wide, — two features that are 
indicative of a strong constitution. A live fleece 
— that is, one that is springy and not dead to the 
touch, and especially a dense, thick covering of belly 
wool — is also indicative of vigor or constitution. 



144 Sheep-Farming 

For the same reason, in those breeds that are wooled 
about the head, the more complete and dense this 
covering is, the better it is liked. The legs of the 
ram should be straight and strong and short. In 
movement the ram should be bold and active. 
This is often influenced by the condition. A ram 
should never be so heavy in flesh as to be useless 
for service, as is too often the case in the show ring. 
The flesh should be even and firm and not gathered 
in masses or rolls at any part of the body. It is 
very apt to gather at the fore flank, leaving the 
back bare or raw. Excessive condition is likely to 
make the ram unwieldy in action or result in broken- 
down pasterns, which usually render a ram useless 
for breeding purposes. 

The ewe. — The ewe should be rather long in the 
face, with fine features. The neck should be slender 
and without any of the thickness noticeable in the 
ram. The body should be deep, round ribbed, and 
specially long so as to provide room for the growing 
lamb. The type of the good milking ewe verges 
strongly towards that which is typical of the good 
dairy cow. The ewe that milks well, and conse- 
quently rears early maturing lambs, tends towards 
the wedge shape, deep in the chest, large bodied, and 
wide across the loins and the hips. The condition 
of the ewe should not be such as to impair her breed- 
ing qualities. Excessive fatness, as a rule, is in this 
way injurious. The flesh should be evenly distrib- 



Formation of a Flock 145 

uted and not gathered in bunches about the tail 
head, and it should be firm and not flabby. A good 
way to select breeding stock is to study type and 
fleece first and then the bodies after shearing. Such 
a plan is not often practicable, but when it can be 
followed, it is most safe and instructive. 

Need of uniformity in ewe flock. — Ewes that are 
of the right size and general build and true to the 
features of their breeds, and at the same time of a 
high degree of excellence in fleece and form, are not 
to be had at ordinary prices. Since something must 
be sacrificed, it had better be points of conformation 
than type. With all the ewes of the same general 
build and type, it remains to so breed and select as 
to overcome the individual defects. Ewes of the 
blocky, compact, heavily muscled kind, coming from 
prolific vigorous stock of the same kind, are sure to 
prove satisfactory under fair treatment. Some de- 
fects of form may impair their market value, but 
such are less serious and much more readily corrected 
than is a variety of type. It is easily possible 
within any one of the breeds to find a range of type 
running from the kind that get ready for market at 
an early age to those much larger that grow through 
a longer period and fatten at greater weight, but 
much later. Each may be profitable under its own 
conditions, but cannot be so in the same flock at the 
same time. In such a mixed flock, the lambs cannot 
all be marketed at once, or if they are, their lack of 



146 Sheep-Farming 

uniformity in appearance, size, and condition lowers 
their value greatly. If, for any reason, the owner 
allows part of his ewes to be of a type different from 
that decided upon at the outset, he has made future 
progress both difficult and unnecessarily expensive. 
Good individual ewes of a different sort may seem 
well worth the price asked for them, but if they are 
not of the same sort as the rest of the flock, one of 
two undesirable things is inevitable. To bring the 
lambs of the off-type ewes to the standard set, a 
special ram must be used, or if this is not done, part 
of the lambs will be less economical gainers than the 
others and thus raise the cost of production, while 
the diversity of appearance and character lowers the 
selling value. The breeder will find enough to 
occupy him in maintaining and advancing the stand- 
ard of his flock and breeding out individual defects 
without at the same time assuming the task of 
bringing in and fixing the correct type in one part 
of the flock. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE FLOCK 

Having secured his foundation ewes, it is thence- 
forth the aim of the owner to enlarge the flock by the 
retention of the females in the increase. Within 
five or six years at the most, the original stock will 
have been disposed of as no longer capable of breed- 
ing. The ewe flock will then consist entirely of 
animals bred by the owner. Real success demands 
that there be a continuous improvement in uni- 
formity and in average individual merit. At the 
best, the foundation ewes will have some points 
susceptible of improvement, or it may become ap- 
parent that a change in some feature would add to 
the profit from keeping them. In the correction 
of defects and effecting of improvement, the flock 
owner has three opportunities, all of which he must 
utilize in advancing toward his ideal of a flock of 
maximum efficiency for his purposes. The first 
of these is in the selection of rams. The second 
opportunity is in the culling of the ewes, and the 
third is in the growing and developing of the lambs. 

Selection of rams. — Truest economy calls for the 
highest degree of excellence in the ram. Needless 
to say, he should strongly represent the type that is 

147 



148 Sheep-Farming 

to characterize the flock and should exhibit the 
pronounced individuality and vigor that indicate 
prepotency or the power to impress his qualities 
upon his get. This much assures the maintenance 
of what has been secured in the ewes. In addition, 
the sire must have marked strength in the main 
weak points of the ewes. While it may at times be 
necessary to use ewes that are not pure bred, the 
ram must be eligible to record. Some well-bred 
but unrecorded rams may be better breeders than 
some that are recorded. The advantage of eligi- 
bility to record is not in the fact of the registration 
of the sire and dam, but in the fact that registration 
makes it possible to know from what kind of stock 
the ram is bred. A ram with the character described 
is not likely to come from substandard parents or 
grandparents, but theory and experience both prove 
the wisdom of knowing the pedigree or ancestry of 
a breeding animal whether pure bred or grade. The 
first thing to consider in a pedigree of a breeding 
ram or ewe is the breeding records of the sire and 
dam. They should be judged by the uniformity 
and merit of their other offspring. The son of a 
young ewe may prove successful as a sire, but the 
risk of failure is much less in selecting the offspring 
of a ewe known to have produced other lambs that 
are robust, well made, and true to type. The breed- 
ing qualities of the ram's sire may be judged by a 
single crop of lambs, though it is still safer if there 



The Improvement of the Flock 149 

are older sheep to represent him and to show the 
breeder's faith in him. If the parents pass the test 
of inspection of their other offspring, this should be 
assurance as to their similarity in type. Their 
individual points cannot be ignored, but sheep that 
are old enough to have the offspring of several years 
to speak for them are not likely to be very attractive 
in appearance. The first parents constitute the most 
important part of a pedigree. Failure of parents to 
stand such a test cannot be atoned for by the excel- 
lence of the grandparents. This is highly desirable, 
but must be looked upon as added assurance of 
the worth of the parents rather than as an excuse 
for their shortcomings. If grandparents and great- 
grandparents also are known to have been good 
breeders, the descendant of such a line has still less 
chance of being a poor breeder. As the number 
of generations of careful weeding out of all sub- 
standard animals is added to, there is an increasing 
degree of purity of the blood and freedom from the 
possible appearance of inferior features. The chief 
real reason for the popularity of imported sheep is 
in the fact that they usually come from flocks that 
have been bred with the greatest care for so many 
generations that the blood is more nearly pure to 
good tendencies and therefore stronger in transmis- 
sion than is the case with animals from flocks that 
have not been bred for a long time according to an 
uninterrupted plan. 



150 Sheep-Farming 

Such a plan of procedure in selecting a sire involves 
time and study and commonly some expense. Since, 
however, it is the only opportunity to influence the 
inheritance of the lambs of the ewes that are to be 
bred, the effort is a necessary one. The owner's 
skill in breeding determines the success of the stock- 
raising venture, and the selection of sires offers the 
main opportunity for the investment of time and 
skill. 

Study of pedigrees. — It is not only practical, but 
imperative, to study pedigrees in the way that has 
been discussed. In some cases, an animal that has 
defects but is backed up by parents and grand- 
parents that stand the test may be more dependable 
than another that is superior individually but not 
vouched for by his forbears. No rule can be laid 
down to guide in a choice between individual merit 
and merit in ancestry. There is great danger of 
allowing esteem for an animal to blind one to the 
defects of that animal's offspring. A safe way is 
to investigate the ancestry of only those animals 
that first command attention by their own merit. 

Pedigree is sometimes spoken of as "a promise 
but not a guarantee of performance." Occasionally 
there is an opportunity to procure sires that have 
produced offspring of uniformly high character. 
This is a guarantee of performance, and such a sire 
is much to be preferred to the most promising 
untested one. Even with a proven sire, however, it 




Fig. 35. — Feeling the development in the leg of mutton. (Page 142.) 




Fig. 36. — Manner and place of opening fleece to see finest quality of 
wool. (Page 142.) 



Plate XIV. Judging Sheep. 



The Improvement of the Flock 151 

is necessary to consider the blood lines and type of 
the ewes to which he has been bred in comparison 
with those of the flock in which it is proposed to 
use him. If he had made a strong impress for good 
upon his get from a large number of ewes or even 
a smaller number of varied strains, it would indicate 
strong prepotency. Fortunate "niches" come from 
some matings that are not duplicated when either 
parent is paired with a new mate. Even with the 
greatest effort, one cannot be certain he is procuring 
a great sire. With reasonable care, even in choos- 
ing an untried animal, he can avoid an objectionable 
one. Fortuitous niches and unusual strong sires 
are procured by continually aiming for the best to 
be had, and the men who own them always owe their 
good fortune to good judgment and careful study 
more than to chance or extraordinary financial 
resources. 

Testing rams. — In the larger pure-bred flocks 
where breeding is most carefully done, a young ram 
is always tested before being used extensively. Of 
course, only those of best individuality and parentage 
are considered as sires, but they are required to 
demonstrate their prepotency before receiving an 
opportunity to impress any great number of offspring. 
A practical way of making such a test is to breed the 
ram to five or six ewes or possibly a smaller number 
of old ewes whose breeding record is known well 
enough to allow a clear estimate of the ram's influ- 



152 Sheep-Farming 

ence when the lambs arrive. The greatest concern 
as to the success of a sire is occasioned in selecting 
the successor to one that has worked a marked 
improvement in the flock, and the new one should 
be procured and tested before the older one is dis- 
posed of. One advantage of a large flock is that 
when once a ram is found to mate well with the ewes, 
he can be retained for use with the same ewes so 
long as both remain useful, and further experiment 
with that part of the flock is unnecessary, and the 
superiority of the lambs of such older ewes can be 
relied upon. 

If the ram selected for the young ewes sired by the 
older one proves unsatisfactory, a loss is occasioned, 
but by no means so great a loss as there would have 
been if all the lambs of that year's crop were by the 
new sire. In this way, the owner of a large flock has 
an advantage in being able to breed his ewes to the 
same ram year after year. He can try them with 
another according as the character of the previous 
lambs or the individual characters of the ewes and 
rams suggest. Even in a flock of less than forty 
ewes, the extra trouble of keeping an extra ram and 
of doing the fall mating in two groups would often 
be repaid many times over by the greater improve- 
ment secured. Sheep-raising is not likely to prove 
to be interesting or remunerative unless progress 
is being made. Progress is a dividend upon what 
has been put into the venture. In sheep-breeding, 



The Improvement of the Flock 153 

the most important part of the investment is the 
study and judgment that are brought to bear in 
making the matings. No lavish expenditures of 
money for fancy equipment or for breeding animals 
not adapted to one another or to their conditions 
can ever give results if skill in mating and developing 
is lacking. On the other hand, the careful breeder 
who selects wisely, holds closely to his type, and 
allows his sheep full opportunity to develop up to 
the limit of their inheritance will succeed with the 
use of a very limited amount of capital. 

In-breeding and line-breeding. — The question of 
mating ewes to rams that are related to them some- 
times becomes a very practical one. Good breeders 
disagree as to the advisability of the practice. Its 
effects are sometimes notably good and at other times 
as plainly bad. The reason for the difference in 
results is manifestly due to the particular conditions, 
as the forces governing inheritance are always the 
same. 

Robert Bakewell's rule of breeding was to breed 
"the best to the best." He had no contemporaries 
and was limited to his own flock for the selection of 
rams. His success has been referred to in the dis- 
cussion of the Leicester breed. In the Southdown 
improvement, John Ellman also mated related ani- 
mals, and owners of some of the prominent flocks of 
the present day prefer that part of the blood of the 
ram should be the same as a part of the ewe's blood. 



154 Sheep-Farming 

Some of the best American fine-wool flocks are line- 
bred. In other cases in which the rams have been 
selected from within the flock for a number of gener- 
ations, there has been a most serious decrease in 
size and robustness, the latter sometimes especially 
noticeable in young lambs. 

Before attempting to explain the varied results 
from close matings, the two terms in common use, 
in-breeding and line-breeding, may be considered. 
In-breeding and line-breeding are essentially the 
same. The distinction between them is not one of 
principle, but of degree. There is no agreed line of 
demarcation between them, and what some persons 
call in-breeding may be referred to by others as 
line-breeding. Animals that are in-bred have 
parents that are related much more closely than are 
the parents of line-bred animals. The mating of 
sons and daughters of the same ram or of the same 
ewe is in-breeding. A close mating such as that of 
sire to daughter or son to dam would be a close form 
of in-breeding. Any mating less close than that of 
being half brother and sister would be more prop- 
erly spoken of as line-breeding. Line-breeding, or 
breeding in line, implies a succession of sires that 
trace their descent to a common animal not too far 
removed. 

The explanation of line-breeding is not to be 
found in the fact of the relationship of the parents. 
Because such parents have a common near-by ances- 



The Improvement of the Flock 155 

tor, they are likely to hold in common the charac- 
teristics of that common ancestor. These common 
characters may be good ones or poor, or they may 
comprise both. The principle of the matter has been 
tersely stated in these words: "The injury from 
line-breeding comes not because of kinship in blood, 
but because of kinship in defect." The concentra- 
tion of the blood of a single animal that is the 
result of line-breeding serves to concentrate and 
perpetuate the characters of that animal. The 
result is not from the fact that the parents are 
related. No new character or qualities are brought 
about, but simply extra likelihood of resemblance 
to the animal whose blood is concentrated. Some 
of the successful breeders who do not favor the 
practice of concentrating the blood prefer to con- 
centrate the type. They use a succession of sires 
that are no blood relation but which are of the same 
type and individual qualities. When it can be done, 
concentration of type serves as well to secure the 
uniformity and prepotency that results from in- 
breeding or line-breeding. It is doubtful, however, 
whether the effect is quite so pronounced when a num- 
ber of similar animals are used as when the same indi- 
vidual appears a number of times in the pedigree. 

Many of the early improvers and founders of the 
breeds worked under conditions that afforded no 
field for the selection for similarity of type. To 
concentrate type, they were forced to concentrate 



156 Sheep-Farming 

blood, because the best sires outside their own flocks 
were inferior to the ones they had bred themselves. 
The same is true of some breeding flocks of the 
present. Because of the exercise of extraordinary 
care and skill, some breeders who are holding to a 
special type within a breed are themselves limited 
to their own flocks in selecting the material to effect 
further progress. Such are the breeders who breed 
their own stud rams. Such a course involves some 
risk of injury to the flock in which it is followed, 
but when carefully done, it gives the stock an extraor- 
dinary prepotency that is invaluable to any other 
flockmaster who aims at the same type. 

It was said that a succession of sires unrelated but 
of similar type was scarcely so certain of results as 
the succession of related ones. The success of either 
plan depends more upon the judgment exercised in 
selecting those sires than upon the system. The 
same is true of any other phase of breeding. 

Since the principle of the matter is that the 
characters of a single animal are perpetuated and 
held together by close matings, there can be no gain 
in concentrating the blood of any but the animals 
of the highest excellence. Whatever apparent or 
concealed weakness they have will also be made 
more pronounced, the apparent ones becoming more 
serious, and those not apparent becoming strong 
enough to exhibit themselves very markedly. The 
flocks that have been ruined by the use of their 



The Improvement of the Flock 157 

own rams owe their disaster to the fact that the 
reliance was placed upon kinship of blood rather 
than upon kinship of excellence without defect. 
No matter what progress be made in fixing good 
qualities of fleece and form, it can avail nothing if 
in the same animals there was concentrated a tend- 
ency to low vigor or low fecundity. The advantage 
of line-breeding lies in the fact that the animals 
mated are some distance removed from the common 
sire, and opportunity is allowed to select individuals 
having the valuable qualities it is desired to preserve 
and yet are free from the weaknesses of the strain. 
So it appears that the question resolves itself into 
a matter of not losing sight of individuality and 
considering ancestry at more than its real value. 
The old rule of "the best to the best" still holds 
good. So long as one can obtain a ram from outside 
his own flock that is better calculated by indi- 
viduality and parentage to bring about the improve- 
ment desired, he should do so, and no longer. This 
assumes that the breeder is as fair and impartial in 
judging his own stock as in judging that of others. 
Such ability is the exception rather than the rule. 
If upon examination of the pedigree of a ram 
that is individually satisfactory and from approved 
parents, it should develop that a grandparent or 
more remote ancestor is one that also appears in the 
pedigree of the ewes for which the ram is intended, 
then the existence of such relationship is desirable 



158 Sheep-Farming 

rather than otherwise, provided the animal whose 
name appears in both pedigrees produced the right 
kind of stock and that his weaknesses do not appear 
in the descendants to be mated. 

There is one other point that can best be empha- 
sized when mating of related stock is under considera- 
tion. Breeders are prone to make their selections 
upon a too narrow basis. Especially is this true 
when some special excellence of fleece or form has 
been secured, and it is desired to perpetuate it. 
Interest is centered in the special features, and the 
fundamental requirements of constitutional vigor 
are ignored, with the result that they may become 
so impaired as to nullify all the good that has been 
secured. Constitutional vigor can be preserved 
and improved just as can any other character if the 
matings are directed toward that end. 

Culling the ewes. — The selection of breeding 
ewes is of no less importance than the selection of 
sires. While a single ewe has only a fraction of the 
influence that the sire has upon the future of the 
flock, yet the standard that is maintained in the ewe 
flock has as much to do with progress as have con- 
siderations that concern the rams. At the best, 
only a part of the ewe lambs of any season can be 
worthy of being allowed to contribute to the future 
lamb crop. The culling of the ewe lambs must be 
based first on their individual merits as shown by 
type and points, then upon what may be known of 



The Improvement of the Flock 159 

other lambs of the same parents. When there is 
doubt, it is practicable to breed the young ewe once 
and determine her fitness by the merit of her off- 
spring. In all this there lies, for most persons, the 
great danger of retaining unworthy ewes through a 
desire to increase numbers or through inability to 
see defect where excellence was hoped for. In some 
German flocks, outside experts are employed to cull 
the ewes and to sort them into lots, for each of which 
a special sire is chosen. 

Developing the lamb. — It was stated in the 
beginning of the discussion of improvement that 
three opportunities presented themselves. The first 
was in the selection of sires, the second in culling 
the ewes, and the third in developing the lambs. 
The first two are equally important in determining 
the inheritance of the lambs, the last has to do with 
the utilization of the inheritance. The way in 
which the lambs are fed and cared for, their environ- 
ment, cannot be said to be either more or less 
important than their inheritance. Both factors 
must be fully attended to if progress is to be made. 

The chief consideration in the choosing of a breed 
and type was adaptability to the conditions under 
which the flock was to be kept and the plan of 
their handling, that is, the age and weight to sell, 
and kind of feeding. The foundation stock con- 
sisted of representative animals secured from a 
flock accustomed to the same kind of treatment. 



160 Sheep-Farming 

By this means and by later choices of sires and 
cullings of ewes, the inheritance has been arranged 
for. The inheritance consists in ability to use feed to 
produce a particular kind of fleece or carcass and to 
develop rapidly under liberal feeding or more slowly 
if the feeding is on a different order. The signifi- 
cance of the adaptability of the parents is wholly 
lost if the lambs are not afforded an environment 
during their growing period that corresponds to 
that in which and for which the breed was developed. 
When the lambs are afforded ample opportunity 
to do what is expected of them, the way they respond 
can be given a good deal of weight in determining 
which ones should be discarded. If the care they 
receive is not equal to that furnished the foundation 
stock, then there is no means of knowing whether or 
not they are the equals of their parents, and there 
is no reliable way of checking upon the breeder's 
work. The importance of fairly testing the merit 
of the lambs should further emphasize the need of a 
clear plan of management before starting in. Other- 
wise, after a few years have shown the most profit- 
able plan of handling, it may be found that another 
breed is needed. In such a case, a fresh start must 
be made, and the experience gained is all that re- 
mains, whereas if suitable stock had been procured 
at first, the returns and the improvement effected 
would be more satisfying than bare experience. 
Cross-breeding. — The crossing of established 



The Improvement of the Flock 161 

breeds of sheep is justifiable or necessary only in 
breeding for the market. While it is true that cross- 
ing was practiced in forming existing breeds, it was 
practically always the object to impart some charac- 
ters of an established breed to stock that had not 
been previously improved. Present-day use of 
cross-bred sheep for breeding purposes would be 
necessary only in cases where it is impossible to 
procure a breed of the kind needed. To some extent 
this is true of western state ranges, where cross- 
bred ewes are quite largely used for breeding pur- 
poses. It is by no means agreed by all range breeders 
that crossing is necessary, but it is true that, aside 
from the Merino, they have no breed that is the 
product of similar conditions. The crossing that is 
practiced necessitates extra expense in purchasing 
ewes at intervals and makes steady improvement 
impossible. Ewes of Merino blood that are to be 
discarded on account of age are sometimes bred 
to rams of the mutton breeds. The ewes with their 
cross-bred lambs are more salable to feeders and 
for mutton, the lambs of both sexes being marketed 
and the breeding flock kept pure. In parts of Eng- 
land and Scotland, the hill and mountain breeds are 
crossed with rams of the lower country breeds. 
This is done in order to secure lambs that are more 
suitable for the feeders than those of the pure native 
breed. The ewe flocks are kept pure. This is 
necessary because of their adaptability to the 



162 Sheep-Farming 

country and the conditions under which the flocks 
must be maintained in the interests of practical 
economy and profit. 

The farmer has seldom any need to cross breeds 
for the above reasons. The practice requires the 
purchase of other rams, and the flock must be 
bred in two parts, one part being mated to rams of 
their own breed to furnish fresh ewes to keep up the 
breeding flock. If all the ewes produce cross-bred 
lambs in any season, there is no opportunity to make 
a change in the ewe flock that year. It is generally 
considered that the crossing of breeds has the specific 
effect of giving greater vigor and more rapid growth 
than characterizes either of the parent breeds. The 
extent of any such advantage over carefully raised 
pure-bred sheep has not been determined by experi- 
ment. The possible advantage from cross-breeding 
in farm flocks is seldom very great, and the practice 
can be followed safely only when the main ewe flock 
is kept pure. 



CHAPTER VII 
AUTUMN MANAGEMENT OF THE FLOCK 

The various and numerous details of flock man- 
agement can be discussed most logically by taking 
them up in natural order, beginning with the autumn. 
The beginner with sheep is likely to make his pur- 
chases in the fall. With the established flock, the 
fall is the time for closing up the old year and putting 
the flock in shape to produce the next crop of lambs. 
Only the breeding sheep will be discussed, the needs 
of the weaned lambs at this period being treated 
as the last consideration of summer management. 
The aim of the shepherd, beginning with the autumn 
season, should be to have his ewes improving in 
condition so that they may be prepared for the 
winter season. There are various details relating 
to the management and feeding that require atten- 
tion at this time, chiefly with the object of having 
ewes in such thrift that they will pass through the 
winter season and the lambing season with the great- 
est success. 

Sorting the ewes. — The important things to be 
attended to in the fall are the culling of the ewes, 
having them get in lamb, and the selection of the 
rams. In fact, the latter matter should by no means 

163 



164 Sheep-Farming 

be deferred until the fall. The culling of the ewes 
is equal in importance to the choice of a ram. The 
fall flock should contain no ewes past breeding age 
that have not had or raised lambs. Keeping a ewe 
that has failed to get in lamb in a fair season is a 
doubtful matter. Such should be in good condition 
in the spring and can be disposed of then and leave 
their room for more productive individuals. Two 
factors determine a ewe's fitness to remain in the 
breeding flock. The first is the character of lambs 
she has raised, and the second her prospects for 
usefulness as shown by age and condition. The 
lambs will have been taken away some time previous 
to the time of sorting out the ewes for breeding. 
Unless the shepherd is sufficiently familiar with the 
flock to be able to remember what kind of lamb each 
ewe raised and how she nursed it, some plan should 
be adopted to facilitate the sorting of the ewes on 
that basis. In flocks in which ewes and lambs are 
numbered and entered in a flock book, it is no great 
task in going over the lambs to mark the numbers of 
the poorer ones, and to then make a list of the dams 
of the cull lambs for guidance in sorting. Ewes with 
spoiled udders should also be marked for the butcher. 
The best milking ewes are likely to be lowest in 
condition, and if appearance and condition are the 
only guides, the best breeders are liable to be put 
among the culls and the poorest mothers retained. 
Age of breeding ewe, — It is generally considered 



Autumn Management of the Flock 165 

that a good breeding ewe should be kept as long as 
she will breed. Occasionally there are ewes that 
will continue to breed good lambs until nine or ten 
years of age, long after they have lost the power of 
getting into marketable condition. In pure-bred 
flocks, the extra value of the lambs from such ewes 
much more than overbalances the loss from being 
unable to realize upon them when they finally 
succumb. Special attention in feeding such ewes 
after their teeth are gone is also well repaid. In a 
strictly commercial flock, however, it is more eco- 
nomical to discard ewes before they are too far gone 
to bring a fair price from the butcher. The aim 
should be to keep the flock composed mainly of ewes 
four or five years old. Two-year-olds with first 
lambs are not as reliable as when older, and the third 
and fourth years should be the most profitable ones. 
After five years of age, a ewe is likely to have a 
broken mouth and to be less thrifty on that account. 
The age of losing the teeth varies with breeds and 
individuals. 

Dentition of sheep. — The age is told largely by the 
order of the appearance of the permanent incisors. 
The temporary incisors that are characteristic of 
lambs are quite different from the permanent ones, 
which begin to appear when the lamb is about one 
year old. The temporary incisors are very long 
and narrow and constricted at the neck, and they 
are white in color. There are eight of these, and they 



166 Sheep-Farming 

seem to be replaced very regularly by a permanent 
pair of incisors each year. The difference between 
temporary and permanent teeth can be readily 
learned by studying the mouth of a sheep known to 
be one or two years old. The first pair of central 
permanent incisors usually make their appearance 
when the lamb is about one year old, and they attain 
their full growth a few months later. The next 
pair, that is, one on each side of the central pair, 
make their appearance about one year later, so that 
the sheep has two pairs of permanent incisors when 
it is a little over two years old. The third pair 
appear the next year, making the sheep slightly 
over three years old when there are three pairs of 
permanent incisors. The last or fourth pair, that 
is, one of each end of the row of incisors, appear 
when the sheep is slightly over four years old. As 
a rule, the mouth is full when the sheep reaches 
five years old. In the instance of lambs that have 
been forced when young, the teeth very often 
appear before the ordinary time, and there are many 
instances of variation from the time that has been 
given. With advancing age, the teeth show wider 
apart, and when shed, handicap the animal greatly 
in grazing. 

It is not necessary to part the jaws in examining 
the teeth. Standing at the left side of the sheep, 
hold the head firmly against the thigh with the right 
hand and with the two forefingers of the left hand 



Autumn Management of the Flock 167 

separate the lips sufficiently to allow a view of the 
teeth. 

Breeding yearling ewes. — The number of ewe 
lambs will ordinarily be considerably greater than the 
number of ewes to be cast off. This allows a thorough 
culling of the lambs to be made. In the fall of the 
yearling form, they can again be gone over and only 
the most promising used to replace the old ewes 
that have been discarded. It is very desirable to 
breed yearling ewes to an old ram that is known to 
be a sure breeder and a good sire. When this is 
done, there can be no mistake in selling those that 
fail to produce good lambs because the inferiority 
in the lambs in such cases is properly attributed to 
the ewe. 

Time of mating. — The time at which the breeding 
season begins will depend largely on the local con- 
ditions and the parentage of the flock. It will be 
generally found that ewes of Dorset descent or 
Merino breeding may be bred at unusual seasons, 
but with other breeds of sheep the usual breeding 
season is either in September or October. It usually 
begins with the first cold weather that comes in the 
fall. The length of the winter season and the time 
at which the ewes may be first turned on pasture are 
the factors which are mainly involved in deciding 
the beginning of the best period to have the ewes 
lamb. The ewe carries her lamb about one hundred 
and forty-seven days, though this may vary three or 



168 Sheep-Farming 

four days, either longer or shorter. Under northern 
conditions, it is advisable to arrange the breeding 
season so that the lambs may be dropped about 
two or three weeks before the flock is to be turned 
out on pasture. The chief reason for this is that if 
the flock is on pasture at the time of lambing, less 
attention can be given to the lambs, and there are 
some changes likely to take place in the milk of the 
ewes that will cause scouring among the lambs. 

Need of having stock in good condition. — The 
inheritance of the lamb expected is arranged for 
and determined beyond direct control when the 
matings are arranged. It should always be borne 
in mind that the ewe's impression upon the lamb 
is conveyed solely by an ovum or egg discharged 
from the ovary at the time of breeding. The sire's 
contribution to the inheritance of the lamb is con- 
veyed in a single spermatozoon, microscopic in size, 
which unites with the ovum. This union consti- 
tutes fertilization, and the cell so produced, supplied 
with nourishment from the dam's circulation, de- 
velops into the new individual. The hereditary 
material from the parents is more likely to be active 
and potent in developing the qualities it conveys 
when the body of the parent is in a vigorous, healthy, 
and well -nourished condition. 

Advantages of flushing ewes. — There are other 
advantages in having the ewes in strong condition 
when they are mated. A shorter lambing season 



Autumn Management of the Flock 169 

is insured, as the lambs are dropped more nearly 
together, and there may be a larger number of them 
than there would be if the ewes were in a low condi- 
tion at breeding time. We have not a very complete 
knowledge of the conditions that govern the dis- 
charge of ova from the ovaries and the number 
released at any one period. The ova are produced 
during the period of heat, but, except in the Merino 
and Dorset breeds, few ewes come in heat without 
the stimulus of the cooler nights following the summer 
season of the section in which they are kept. Im- 
ported English ewes kept in California take the ram 
upon the approach of the comparatively cooler 
nights of July and August, much earlier than the 
same ewes had previously come in heat in England. 
All direct attempts to induce coming in heat by 
artificial means have been unsuccessful. It is rea- 
sonable to assume, however, and experience justifies 
the assumption, that there is a relation between 
coming in heat and the body condition. Ewes 
that are abnormally fat are likely to show the results 
of the fattening conditions in the impairment of the 
functions of the ovaries. The same is true of an 
abnormally low or under-nourished condition. 
When the ewes are all in uniformly good condition, 
they will therefore come in heat regularly and be 
likely to get in lamb. If the ram service is properly 
arranged, the majority of the ewes will get in lamb at 
the first or second service. Since ewes come in heat 



170 Sheep-Farming 

at intervals of from fourteen to twenty-one days, 
this gives a lambing time of the same length for the 
ewes in lamb to service in the first or second heat 
period after the ram is turned in. Considerable at- 
tention is required for lambing ewes, especially for 
those producing their first lambs. It is easier for 
the shepherd to care for a number of ewes and young 
lambs each day and night for a short time than to 
have them come straggling along through several 
weeks. The lambs are then uniform in size and get 
well started under the same conditions. 

The number of lambs produced is determined by 
the number of ova produced by the ewe. The ram 
may sometimes be unable to produce spermatozoa 
to fertilize the ovum, but there are no grounds for 
believing that the reason for single or twin lambs lies 
with the ram. It is true that the opinion is some- 
times held that a ram that is a twin gets a larger 
percentage of lambs than one that was a single 
lamb. The number of spermatozoa contained in the 
seminal fluid at each service runs into the thousands. 
Over-use or otherwise impaired conditions may lower 
the number or suspend the production of the sper- 
matozoa altogether, or it may cause them to be less 
vigorous and active in traversing the passage toward 
the ovum. For these reasons, the management of 
the ram is an important factor. But it is most 
improbable that if one spermatozoon should fertilize 
an ovum, another ovum produced at the same time 



Autumn Management of the Flock 171 

should fail to be fertilized for lack of a second active 
spermatozoon among the thousands produced. 

Ova produced by ewes. — In an investigation 
made by Dr. F. H. A. Marshall of Cambridge 
University, England, 55 ewes were slaughtered and 
their ovaries examined during the mating season. 
Of this number, 42 had discharged one ovum only ; 
7 had discharged one ovum from each ovary; in 
5 cases, two ova were discharged from one ovary ; and 
there was 1 case in which two were discharged from 
one ovary and one from the other. This number of 
ova corresponded to the proportions of twins and 
triplets common in the breed to which the ewes 
belonged. Ewes that are in good condition may be 
expected to produce two ova more frequently than 
they would if in a low condition. 

The fact that the ewes that lamb earliest produce 
more twins than the late lambing ewes is sometimes 
held to show that the ram is most prolific early in 
the breeding season. The more reasonable explana- 
tion is that some ewes are sexually more active than 
others and for the same reason come in season and 
get in lamb first. Taking the ground that the ram 
does not govern the number of lambs so long as he 
is in reasonable condition, does not oppose the idea 
that a male may transmit the fecundity of his dam to 
his daughters, which would enable him to influence 
in some degree the number of his descendants in 
the second generation, but not in the first. 



172 Sheep-Farming 

Having ewes in condition to insure a short lamb- 
ing season and a good percentage of lambs does not 
mean that they should be in market or show con- 
dition. The main thing is that they be gaining when 
bred. The methods practiced by British shepherds 
for getting ewes into good breeding condition is 
called "flushing." After weaning the lambs, it is 
desirable to run ewes on short pasture until the flow 
of milk has stopped. After this, if they are turned on 
good pasture, nothing more is ordinarily needed. 
Good grass pastures will suffice or, if that is not avail- 
able, rape or rye or other forage crops will answer. 
If there is no suitable grazing, a light ration of grain 
containing not more than one half corn can be used 
to good advantage. There is no advantage in stinting 
ewes that are in lamb. The demands of the fetus 
are not so great at first as in the last months of preg- 
nancy. A continuation of the food given at breeding 
time might bring the ewes into higher condition than 
is necessary or desirable, but this will depend upon 
the pasturage and the feeds at hand during winter. 

The ram in the breeding season. — The main req- 
uisite in the management of the ram during the 
breeding season is to prevent his getting into a run- 
down condition through overuse or underfeeding 
or both. If either of these conditions is permitted, 
there may be a total suspension of the ability to 
breed, but this is not likely to occur in farm flocks 
of ordinary size. On the range where feeding is not 



Autumn Management of the Flock 173 

always practical and the demands are extreme, 
troubles with stock rams are more common. Ab- 
normal condition, either from underfeeding or over- 
feeding, is likely to result unfavorably. A good 
robust, vigorous condition with moderate fatness is 
what is needed in the ram at the beginning of breed- 
ing and should be maintained as far as possible dur- 
ing the season. 

Number of ewes to a ram. — A ram that is a yearl- 
ing or older, when running in the field with the ewes, 
should serve fifty ewes. To do this, he should be 
taken out and fed grain at least once each day. 
Ram lambs will do well as sires if well grown and used 
only moderately. About twenty is as large a num- 
ber of ewes as can be relied upon for good results 
when bred to a ram lamb. 

If more than one ram is mated, it is good economy 
to divide the ewes into flocks according to their 
adaptability to the separate rams. If rams are kept 
up, however, each ewe may be assigned to a particular 
ram as she comes in heat and is ready to be bred. 
By keeping the ram away from the flock, he can 
care for nearly twice as many ewes as when running 
in the field, because each ewe is served but once and 
the ram's vitality thereby conserved. When this 
plan is followed, the ram is turned among the ewes 
in the morning or both morning and evening. The 
ewes that appear to be in heat are taken out and 
allowed a single service. A ram well cared for and 



174 Sheep-Farming 

bred on this plan may serve two or three ewes both 
morning and evening for a limited number of days, 
and a well-cared-for mature ram so handled can get 
one hundred ewes in lamb in a season. 

Marking the bred ewes. — Whether the ewes are 
bred in the field or the barn, some plan of marking 
is necessary in order to keep track of when the lambs 
are due. For field breeding the common practice 
is to paint the breast of the ram each day. When 
this is done, it is easy to tell which ewes are bred 
and to take their flock numbers and record the date 
of service. If the color of paint used is changed at 
intervals of ten days, it is possible to know which 
ewes have come in heat again and how sure the 
ram is. 

When hand-breeding is practiced, that is, when 
the ram is not allowed to run with the flock, the ewes 
can be marked as bred. Those bred the first week 
may be given a small mark on the left shoulder. 
Those bred the next week upon the left side, those 
the following weeks upon the right shoulder and 
side or other places. This makes it possible to go 
into the flock at lambing time and readily separate 
out those due to lamb in any week and place them 
in suitable quarters. 



CHAPTER VIII 

WINTER MANAGEMENT OF THE FLOCK 

Success in bringing sheep through the winter in 
good condition is dependent upon the observation 
of a few principles aside from feeding. While 
some shelter is necessary in practically all localities, 
nothing in the way of close housing is safe, especially 
with ewes in lamb. Good yard accommodation in 
which the sheep can keep on dry footing and have 
plenty of room to exercise is the first requisite. In 
the house or sheds, about fifteen square feet of floor 
space is necessary for an average-sized sheep. The 
fleece affords sufficient warmth while it is dry, and 
for this reason the main need in a shed or sheep barn 
is protection from storms and plenty of ventilation 
without drafts. If the quarters are airy and com- 
fortable, the sheep will resort to them whenever 
necessary. On most dry nights, they will prefer to 
be out of doors and will winter much better if allowed 
to do so than they will if kept confined in close or 
crowded pens. It is usually more convenient to 
have the feed racks inside, but some of the rough feed 
should always be fed out of doors. With breeding 
ewes, toward lambing time there is danger of injury 

175 



176 Sheep-Farming 

and loss of lambs from crowding through narrow 
doorways. It is a good plan to provide an old 
sod upon which the sheep may remain until winter 
storms make it necessary to take them nearer the 
barns. With dry footing, sheep are better off to 
remain in the fields as long as possible, and if some 
grass has been allowed to cure upon the ground, it 
is a good place for the ewes during the daytime until 
snow becomes deep or the ground becomes wet. 

Division of the flock for wintering. — One advantage 
of a large flock is that the sheep are more likely to 
be sorted by age, sex, and condition into various lots 
for wintering. In a small flock in which all kinds 
are run together, some members of the winter flock 
are sure to get more or less feed than they need. 
It is first of all desirable to have one shelter and lot 
for ewe lambs. If the wether lambs and cull ewe 
lambs are to be sold fat after shearing, they may run 
the first part of the winter with the good ewe lambs 
and be separated later to be finished for market. 
Ordinarily, however, it will be found more economical 
to dispose of all the lambs that are not wanted for 
breeders in the fall and use the winter feed and 
quarters mainly for a large number of breeding ewes. 
When ram lambs are kept over to sell as yearlings, 
they will need to be in a separate group. Stud 
rams may run with the ewes in lamb, but unless 
very quiet will be better kept away as lambing time 
approaches. The number of ewes in lamb that will 



Winter Management of the Flock 177 

do well together varies with the breeds, but they will 
thrive better in lots of forty or fifty than in larger 
numbers. Ewes carrying lambs for the first time 
need extra feed and attention and can make up a 
separate lot to good advantage. 

The breeding ewes in early winter. — The aim in 
wintering breeding ewes is to bring them to lambing 
time in good vigorous condition and in medium flesh. 
The health and vigor desired cannot follow a close 
in-door winter life. The feeding required will de- 
pend upon the season and the condition of the ewes 
at the time the pastures are abandoned. It some- 
times happens that ewes that run out until late in 
a wet fall when the grass is heavy but soft come into 
quarters quite thin. The only safe guide as to 
condition is the feel of the backs when handled. 
By going among a lot of ewes in the pen or barn 
and noting the covering of the vertebrae, especially 
of the loin, one can quickly tell just how they are 
doing and which ones are falling behind and need 
to be separated out for extra feeding. It was ad- 
vised that ewes carrying their first lambs be made a 
separate lot when possible and given extra feed. If 
this is done, those that are behind the others in the 
older flock can be put with the young ewes. When 
the fall grass is soft and washy, it is good economy 
to start with some dry feed before the ewes are taken 
from the pasture. Hay may be used at this time, 
though a feed of about one-half pound of grain for 



178 Sheep-Farming 

each ewe daily can usually be taken to them more 
conveniently. Rape sown with small grains or at 
the last planting of corn can be utilized to furnish fall 
grazing. Rye sown early will afford fall feed and 
also be useful in the spring. Such crops must be 
largely used in maintaining a flock upon high-priced 
lands. They afford fresh ground, which is necessary 
to good health and freedom from parasites. They 
make it possible to keep fewer acres in grass, though 
the raising of them entails some extra labor that 
is more than repaid by good sheep, as they gather 
the crops themselves with a minimum of waste. 
The use and need of such crops in sheep-farming calls 
for more detailed reference in the chapter devoted 
to summer management. 

Roughages for ewes. — Sheep that enter the winter 
in good heart can be carried until nearly lambing 
time without grain feeding. To do this, however, a 
good supply of clean, well-cured roughages is neces- 
sary. Red clover or alfalfa hay are well-nigh indis- 
pensable, indeed without one of them grain feeding 
must be resorted to. Corn fodder can be used in 
wintering ewes, but it should be well cured. It is 
most satisfactory for feeding on dry ground some 
distance from the barns, so that the ewes get exercise 
going to it and while feeding. Of course the waste 
would preclude such use of fodder outside the corn 
states, but the value of having a feed to use out 
of doors is considerable. Pea straw, where it is ob- 



Winter Management of the Flock 179 

tainable, is excellent sheep feed and is often fed upon 
the snow. Its value is nearer that of clover than is 
that of any other straw. The advisability of cutting 
fodders for sheep can be determined mainly on the 
value of the fodder and the waste that is saved by 
so doing. The advantage to the sheep is of no great 
consequence. British shepherds rely largely upon 
roots in wintering sheep. Some of them consider 
that a liberal use of turnips is unfavorable to a good 
lamb crop, but some form of succulent feed is highly 
desirable. Corn silage can be used to furnish suc- 
culence, though some losses and a good deal of trouble 
have been occasioned by feeding silage. The greatest 
danger seems to be in using spoiled silage. Sheep 
are peculiarly susceptible to injury from any moldy 
or gassy feed, and such conditions are likely to exist 
when corn is put into the silo too green or has kept 
poorly. When good dry fodder or hay is used as 
part of the rough feed, a good quality of silage can 
be used to good advantage. Account needs to be 
taken of the amount of grain in the silage, as the 
ewes may be made overfat if the rest of the ration 
is of a fattening nature. An experiment conducted 
at the Wisconsin station several years ago gives a 
good line on the comparative values of various feeds. 
In all lots, the ewes were fed one-half pound of oats 
each per day during the first four weeks, and this 
was changed to a similar amount of bran for the last 
four weeks. The results were as follows : — 



180 



Sheep-Farming 













Increase 




Quantity 












of Fodder 


Sugar 


Oats or 


Amount 


Weight 


Fodder under Trial 


under 


Beets 


Bran 


of 


per Head 




Trial 






Refuse 


in Eight 




Eaten 








Weeks 




lb. 


lb. 


lb. 


% 


lb. 


Corn fodder (cut) . . 


1.75 


3.1 


.5 


20. 


10.6 


Oat straw .... 


1.1 


3.1 


.5 


22. 


1. 


Bluegrass hay . . . 


1.5 


3.1 


.5 


6.2 


4.8 



Corn Silage 



Oat hay (uncut) 
Oat hay (cut) . 
Alsike clover hay 



2.1 


2.5 


.5 


33. 


1.5 


2.4 


.5 


25. 


2. 


2.8 


.5 


16. 



19.1 
4.7 
19. 



Hat 



Corn silage .... 


2.2 


1.5 


.5 


6. 


1.6 


Sugar beets . . . 


3.3 


1.5 


.5 




7. 


Clover silage . . . 


2.3 


1.5 


.5 


12.9 


7.3 



Grain for ewes in lamb. — The amount or kind 
of grain that should be used will depend upon the 
character of the other part of the ration. With some 
silage carrying the ordinary amount of corn and alfalfa 
or clover hay, little or no grain should be needed, but 
this can be determined best by the condition of the 
ewes as revealed by going among them. Oats are 
a staple feed for sheep, but their value often makes it 
advisable to use a nitrogenous roughage and a car- 
bonaceous concentrate. Toward lambing time, the 
growth of the fetus makes demands for such elements 



Winter Management of the Flock 181 

as occur in oats and bran. These feeds also favor a 
good milk flow, and their use for a few weeks before 
and after lambing is highly desirable. The same 
results may be obtained from other combinations 
of feeds after experience has been gained, but the 
only objection there can be to the use of oats and 
bran at this time is their cost. 

Accessories to the ration. — The breeding flock 
should have access to water at all times, especially 
is this true after they have lambed. It will be found 
then that ewes seem to have an inordinate thirst for 
water, and it should be supplied to them liberally. 
Salt should also be within their reach. If they have 
access to it at all times, they will never eat too much, 
but if withheld from them for a time, they may 
possibly eat more than they should when it is again 
given to them. They seem to get the most from 
coarse-grained salt, which may be spread on the sills 
of the shed or put in small boxes used especially 
for it. 

Rations for rams. — In feeding rams during the 
winter season, the object is to feed them as cheaply 
as possible and maintain their health and thrift. 
Oats and bran and oil meal may be relied on to meet 
all the requirements of a grain ration. A ram should 
receive one-half to one pound of this mixture, though 
the quality should be decided altogether by the 
condition of the ram. Clover hay, pea straw, or 
corn fodder are the best foods from which to select 



182 Sheep-Farming 

the coarse portions of the ration. Some succulent 
fodder, such as silage or roots, should be fed so as to 
keep the ram from becoming constipated. From 
2 to 3 pounds of coarse fodder will generally be found 
sufficient as a daily ration for a ram in addition to 
the grain before mentioned. A ration of this kind 
will usually keep a ram hearty, and if care is taken to 
give him sufficient exercise, no disorders are likely 
to result. Like bulls, rams are peculiarly subject 
to troubles of the urinary organs. Such ailments 
are especially frequent when mangels are fed. On 
some farms, mangels are used without any apparent 
injurious results. The likelihood of trouble renders 
it advisable to use these roots for rams with caution. 
Lambs that are being wintered, whether ewes, 
rams, or wethers, require the same general conditions, 
shelter, and system of feeding as the ewes. The 
feeding needs to be more liberal, and the proportion 
of fattening feeds adapted to the object sought. 
The finishing of sheep for market is the topic of the 
eleventh chapter. 



CHAPTER IX 

SPRING MANAGEMENT OF THE FLOCK 

It is advisable to divide the ewes into lots accord- 
ing to the time they are due to lamb. This will 
assist the shepherd in keeping informed as to the 
time of lambing, and also benefit the ewes. By 
putting the ewes that are in the same degree of 
pregnancy together, they are not so liable to be in- 
jured, and through divisions into small groups, there 
is likely to be less crowding at the feed boxes. This 
is a very critical period in the management of the 
flock, and every attention should be given to the care 
and comfort of the ewes. The most frequent causes 
of ewes casting their lambs originate from crowding 
about the feed boxes, pushing through narrow gate 
ways, jumping over gutters or deep ruts, and rough 
handling, especially in such operations as turning 
the ewes to trim their feet. It is when the ewes 
have passed through one-half the period of pregnancy 
that these things are most likely to cause them to 
cast their lambs. It is better to separate the ewes 
one week before they are actually due, rather than to 
delay this until their period of gestation has almost 
passed. The duration of pregnancy is almost in- 
variably 147 days. 

183 



184 Sheep-Farming 

Indications of lambing. — Indications of lambing 
are noticeable several days before the event takes 
place. There is a marked dropping of the flanks 
accompanied by a swollen and red appearance of 
the vulva. Immediately preceding lambing, the 
ewe becomes restless and frequently changes her 
position. 

Trimming and cleaning udders. — Previous to 
lambing, the udders of the ewes should be trimmed 
when necessary, thereby removing all wool that 
might be in the way of the lamb when it attempts 
to suck. By removing too much of the covering of 
the udder, inflammation may result from exposure. 
The udder should be cleaned if any filth has gathered 
on it, for such will often prevent the lamb from suck- 
ing the teat. 

Delayed lambing. — In many instances, the ewe 
will pass the normal period of gestation two or 
three days ; usually this is so when the lamb is of 
the male sex, though it may be due to something 
abnormal in the presentation or result from injury 
to the lamb. Unless the ewe strains as if in parturi- 
tion, it is best to reserve any action. If she endeav- 
ors to lamb, an examination will usually disclose the 
cause of the delay. 

Avoiding disturbance of the ewe. — Inexperienced 
shepherds invariably err in being too attentive to 
the ewe when lambing is about to take place. Unless 
there is evidence that something is wrong in the 



Spring Management of the Flock 185 

presentation or condition of the fetus, the ewe should 
not be annoyed. She should be left quiet and un- 
noticed until straining begins. 

Assistance in lambing. — Sufficient time should 
be given to the ewe to give birth to her lamb before 
an attempt is made to assist her. After straining 
a few times, the water bag is expelled and becomes 
ruptured, and the feet of the lamb then make their 
appearance. In most instances, especially when the 
presentation is right, a slight strain put upon these 
will bring a prompt delivery. In applying force to 
complete the delivery, carefulness should be observed 
only to do so when the ewe strains. If care is not 
taken to act in unison with the efforts of the ewe, 
some of the internal parts are likely to be injured or 
inflammation afterwards results. 

Natural presentation. — Normal presentation oc- 
curs when the lamb makes its appearance with its 
front feet slightly forward of the nose, with the head 
between the fore legs. When in this position, it is 
easy for the ewe to expel the fetus unless it is too 
large. The lamb, when in a natural position, lies 
upon its belly. ^ ' 

Wrong presentations. — These may be due to 
natural causes, though they are often the result of 
accident. Insufficient accommodations at the feed- 
ing trough, or any other condition that is likely to 
cause the ewes to crush or push each other, will pro- 
duce them. After a couple of hours have passed 



186 Sheep-Farming 

since the ewe showed signs of lambing, an examin- 
ation should be made to see how the lamb is placed. 
If it is in its proper position, then the ewe should be 
left to herself. When examination reveals the fact 
that assistance should be given, it should be rendered 
with prompt dispatch. 

It frequently happens in cases of this kind that 
one or both of the fore legs are bent backwards. 
In the first instance, it is best to try and deliver the 
lamb while it is in that position by gently pulling 
downwards at the time when the ewe strains. If 
delivery cannot be secured in this way, the backward 
limb should be brought forward to its proper position. 

When both fore legs are back and the head is 
presented, assistance must be given. It will be 
necessary to bring the legs forward, which can be 
accomplished after the head has been gently thrust 
back. 

It is not an infrequent occurrence for the head to 
be slipped down between or on one side of the fore 
legs. With a little patience and gentle handling, 
the head can be raised to its natural position above 
the fore legs and the lamb easily withdrawn. The 
head is sometimes presented, but there is no appear- 
ance of the feet. When this occurs, the head should 
be forced back far enough to allow the hand sufficient 
room in the vagina. Then feel for the fore legs, 
draw them forward together, and attach a loop of 
soft cord to each of them and allow them to recede. 



Spring Management of the Flock 187 

Then secure the head and bring it forward, into the 
cavity of the pelvis by grasping the whole head with 
the hand. If there is not sufficient room for doing 
this, put a loop of the cord around the lower jaw of 
the fetus and pull gently, being careful not to injure 
the jaw by too much pressure or force. Then by 
the strings draw the feet forward, and the lamb may 
easily be extracted. The feet sometimes appear, 
but the head is not to be seen. In such an instance 
force the feet back into the vagina and proceed as 
in the last case. 

When parts of two lambs are presented at the 
same time, push both back. First put one lamb in 
proper position, then draw it away, and usually the 
other one will be easily extracted. 

Broadside presentations are unusual occurrences. 
The side of the lamb is found obstructing the uterus. 
To place the fetus in its proper position it is ad- 
visable to turn the ewe on her back and gently 
raise her from the ground by the hind legs. In this 
way the fetus falls forward, and when the hand is 
introduced, it is easy to adjust it properly. 

Sometimes the fetus is on its back; then the 
treatment should be the same as in the last instance. 
The lamb may be too large for the passage, which 
may result in the loss of the lamb or the ewe. To 
save the ewe, it may be necessary to use a knife to 
dissect the lamb. This is most easily done by sever- 
ing the shoulders from the body. 



188 Sheep-Farming 

A breech presentation occurs when the hind legs 
are first presented. Usually it is not advisable to 
attempt the delivery of a lamb in that position with- 
out trying to turn it. When an instance of this 
occurs, the delivery should be hastened, otherwise 
suffocation may result. 

Another form of breech presentation is one in 
which the hind legs appear at the opening of the 
womb and are bent backwards. Place the ewe on 
her back ; let an assistant stride across her, facing 
the hinder parts, and holding the hind quarters as 
high as possible by taking a firm grasp of the leg 
between the thick of the leg and the hock. When 
the ewe is in this position, gently insert the hand 
into the passage until the lamb is reached. Pass 
the hand from the rump of the lamb to the thighs, 
and by taking hold of the legs as near the foot as 
possible, draw it forward into proper position. When 
the same is accomplished with the other leg, it is 
easy to secure delivery. Monstrosities are sometimes 
the cause of trouble. As a rule, they cannot be re- 
moved without the use of a knife. 

In handling ewes with awkward presentations, 
roughness and hurry should be avoided. The hand 
should be anointed with fresh lard and oil, and the 
finger nails trimmed short. After the ewe has ex- 
perienced difficult labor, the parts should be soothed 
with carbolized oil, or a solution of creolin, one to fifty 
parts water, may be used to allay the inflammation. 



Spring Management of the Flock 189 

Still-born lambs. — When a ewe has been carrying 
dead lambs for some time, her head droops and her 
eye has a dull appearance; she seems feverish and 
refuses food, and there is a watery discharge attended 
by a very offensive smell. Everything is in an un- 
natural state, and the lamb is very much swollen. 
When it is taken away, it is usually wrapped in a 
putrid and offensive fetal covering. In all cases 
where the delivery has been difficult or when dead 
lambs have been removed, the conditions are favor- 
able for the ewe to be attacked by inflammation. 
With a view to checking this, a small quantity of 
carbolized oil or the creolin solution should be injected 
into the womb, and two drachms of laudanum given 
internally with two spoonfuls of linseed oil. This 
should be repeated if the inflammation does not sub- 
side. It is advisable to remove from the rest of the 
flock such ewes as have had dead lambs. Feed them 
carefully, and in severe cases it will be well to let them 
have oatmeal or flaxseed gruel three times a day, 
made with a pint of warm milk. Do not allow such 
ewes to drink much cold water. 

After treating ewes with this trouble, the shepherd 
should be careful to wash and disinfect his hands 
in a two per cent solution of carbolic acid or the creo- 
lin solution. 

Removal of the after-birth. — When the delivery 
has been normal, the after-birth or placenta generally 
comes away with or shortly after the lamb. In 



190 Sheep-Farming 

some cases, it may remain for a day. In such in- 
stances, it should be removed before it begins to 
putrefy, and the passage treated with creolin solution. 
The after-birth should never be left in the pen where 
the ewe has lambed. 

Possibility of a second lamb. — In instances of 
twins, the arrival of the second lamb is sometimes 
delayed. The ewe becomes so engrossed in the care 
of the first lamb that she becomes unmindful of the 
continued pains of labor. If the second lamb is in 
proper position, it is not long in making its appear- 
ance. When this occurs, it should be at once 
brought to the notice of the ewe by placing it in 
front of her. This guards against any possibility 
of the ewe disowning this lamb. 

Assisting the lamb. — After the ewe has cleansed 
and dried the lamb, and it has rested a half hour or 
so, it should be assisted to suck, if it is not able to 
do this of its own accord. In the case of young ewes, 
this must be attended to, as the anxiety on their part 
to keep the lamb in sight prevents the lamb sucking. 
The ewe should be held and the lamb brought to the 
teat, the wax being previously squeezed out. 

Attention at birth. — As soon as the lamb is born, 
clean the mucus from its nostrils and mouth. It 
is customary to blow into the nostrils of the lamb to 
assist it in breathing. Bring the lamb before the 
ewe and leave them for a period of twenty minutes 
or so. Let her have time to clean and dry it. If 



Spring Management of the Flock 191 

she is backward in attending to this, sprinkle a pinch 
of salt over the lamb. A lamb of ordinary strength 
will at once seek its mother's milk ; but if it is weak, 
it must be assisted. 

Marking the lambs. — The most common method 
of recording the parentage of lambs is to number 
them while only a few days old by a system of 
notches in the ear. Tags in the ears of young lambs 
are likely to tear out. The notches afford a perma- 
nent mark, though most associations that record pure- 
bred sheep require the use of the label bearing the 
official number after the lamb is recorded. This 
official label can be inserted at weaning time, when 
there is small danger of its being torn out, and the 
official number recorded along with the flock number 
indicated by the notches. A system of notches can 
be made to cover several thousand. Such a number 
would serve most flocks for several years. The 
lower numbers are most commonly used, and along 
with the year of birth. The breeder's name, the 
flock number, and the year make up the individual 
designations mainly used in registration: thus, 
Johnson 176 — 1910. A separate mark to indicate 
the year may be given each lamb of a season, but this 
is not likely to be needed. Until four years of age 
the teeth are sufficient guide as to the year of birth, 
and if older ewes are too numerous to be remembered, 
the official number and flock book furnish identi- 
fication. These notches can be made with the punch 



192 Sheep-Farming 

used for labels, but only the corner should be used, 
as a large notch in a young lamb's ear becomes a 
disfiguration later. 

The system of notching is based on the numbers 
one, three, and nine. 

One is — one notch at base of right ear on lower 
side. 

Two — two notches at base of right ear on lower 
side. 

Three — one notch at tip of right ear. 

Four — one notch at base and one at tip of lower 
side of right ear. 

Five — a combination of two and three. 

Six — two notches at tip of right ear, lower side. 

Seven — one notch at base and two at tip of 
right ear, lower side. 

Eight — five and three combined. 

Nine — one notch in middle of lower side of 
right ear. 

Similar marks in the left ear have a value of ten 
each. One hundred is made by a notch in the upper 
side of the left ear. Three hundred would be shown 
by a notch at the tip of the upper side of the left ear. 
Each notch in the upper side of the left ear counts 
one hundred, and the number of hundreds is shown 
by the same positions and combinations for units in 
the lower side of the right ear. Correspondingly, each 
notch in the upper side of the left ear represents one 
thousand. 



Spring Management of the Flock 193 

Weak lambs. — Warmth is one of the best stimu- 
lants to use when the lamb is weak. The quarters 
should supply this as far as possible. It is a good 
plan to warm weak lambs by wrapping them in thick 
woolen cloths that have been warmed on a stove. 
As soon as one wrapper becomes cool, another hot 
from the stove should succeed it. This is a much 
more effective way than dipping the lamb in hot water, 
which is sometimes recommended. If the lamb is 
not extremely weak, it may only be required to feed 
it some of its dam's milk with a spoon. If it does not 
gain strength by frequent feeding of the milk and 
keeping it warm, a stimulant such as whisky will be 
required. A weak lamb should not be exhausted 
with efforts to hold it to the teat and make it suck. 
It should be assisted gently and carefully to do so. 
In most instances, it will be only necessary to hold 
the lamb to the teat, and then, putting a finger in its 
mouth, it is easy to start it sucking by substituting 
the teat. It should be helped in this way four or 
five times in an hour until it gains some strength. 
Unless the lamb is very weak, it is not advisable to 
turn the ewe on her back for it. For three days it 
is advisable to keep the ewe and the lamb by them- 
selves. This is beneficial, as they become acquainted 
with each other, and the lamb grows strong enough 
to take care of itself before being put with the 
others. 

The division of ewes and lambs. — As the lambing 



194 Sheep-Farming 

proceeds, the ewes and their lambs ought to be 
classed into several groups. One yard is required 
for the ewes that are heavy in lamb, another for the 
ewes that have single lambs, and a third for the ewes 
that have twins. By having them divided in this way, 
they may be given better attention and feeding. 

Dry ewes. — It sometimes occurs that the ewes 
have no milk for their lambs. This is generally the 
result of insufficient feeding, though it sometimes 
happens with ewes that are in thrifty condition. 
To stimulate the secretion, there is nothing better 
than the feeding of such foods as bran or oats a 
month previous to lambing. As a quick stimulant, 
the feeding of oatmeal gruel or wheat-flour gruel is 
the most satisfactory. 

Treatment of unkindly ewes. — When a ewe will 
not allow her lamb to suck, she should be held to 
permit the lamb to get milk when it needs it, or, if 
time cannot be taken for this, a halter should be made 
for her and she should be tied so that she cannot butt 
it. It is well to make an examination of the udder, 
for it may be that inflammation in that region is the 
cause of the trouble. A ewe may not wish to own 
her lamb. Such dislike for the lamb disappears 
if they are kept together in a pen for a few days 
before being out with the others. 

Care of twins. — If the ewe is a good milker and 
the lambs are hearty, twins do not give any more 
trouble than single lambs. In the event of a ewe 



Spring Management of the Flock 195 

having twins and a small quantity of milk, it would 
be well to transfer one of the lambs to a ewe that has 
only one lamb and a bountiful supply of milk. If 
two ewes lamb at the same time, it is a very easy 
matter to make the transfer by rubbing the lambs 
together so that they may have the same smell. 
It is necessary to note that both of the lambs in the 
instance of twins have their share of the ewe's milk. 
When the lambs are young, if one of them is some- 
what stronger than the other, it is likely to obtain 
more than its portion. To obviate this, the ewe 
should be held at times for the weaker lamb. 

Hand-feeding lambs. — In raising lambs that have 
lost their dams, it is best to feed them cow's milk 
from a bottle that has a small rubber nipple attached 
to it. A newly dropped lamb only requires two 
teaspoonfuls at a time given every hour. The milk 
should be fresh from the cow, at a natural tempera- 
ture. The lamb should be fed a small quantity, 
and that at frequent intervals. It is not necessary to 
sweeten the milk nor weaken it with water. Lambs 
may be taught to drink from a dipper by introducing 
the rim of it into their mouths and allowing them to 
drink in the customary manner. But the best plan 
is to feed them from a bottle with a rubber nipple. 
Lambs will make good growth on milk, provided that 
they are fed regularly and only small quantities are 
given them frequently. At times, the lambs reared 
in this manner are troubled with scours; in such 



196 Sheep-Farming 

cases the milk should be boiled for a few meals. A 
teaspoonful or more of limewater should also be 
given in the milk. If this should fail, add a teaspoon- 
ful of castor oil to the milk as often as may be 
deemed necessary. 

Foster mothers. — Among the different ways on 
inducing a ewe to own a strange lamb, the most 
common is to cover the lamb with the skin of the 
dead one. Another efficient means of deception is 
to rub some of the milk of the ewe over the lamb. 
The age of the lamb that is to be substituted should 
be nearly the same as that of the lamb that died, so 
that it may not be injuriously affected by the con- 
dition of the ewe's milk. If the ewe has recently 
lambed and the lamb substituted is several weeks 
old, scouring will follow. 

Feeding grain to lambs. — It is advisable to feed 
grain to lambs as soon as they begin to eat. If 
the ewes are fed grain from a low trough, the lambs 
will begin to eat some with their dams before they 
are two weeks old. As soon as they begin to do 
this, a part of the pen should be set apart as 
a feeding place for them. Shortly after lambing 
and before the ewes are put on pasture, it pays 
to feed them grain, but the best results in the 
growth of the lambs will be attained by feeding 
direct to the lambs. 

If the lambs are in the field, a sheltered place where 
the flock may be in the habit of gathering should be 



Spring Management of the Flock 197 

selected, and a small pen or creep may be constructed 
for them. 

Food previous to weaning. — For feeding lambs that 
are to be used for breeding purposes, the writer has 
a preference for bran and oil meal. They will make 
more growth on this than they would if corn meal were 
added to the mixture. The latter would make them 
fleshier, but would not produce frame to the same 
extent as the other foods do. Oats are wholesome, but 
the lambs will do better on them after they have been 
weaned. In feeding lambs, the aim should be to 
give them all the food they have the capacity to 
consume without gorging them. That implies fre- 
quent feeding in small quantities. The details in 
feeding young lambs are as follows : In the morn- 
ing at six o'clock they are fed a small quantity of 
grain in the trough. After the other sheep are fed, 
it is noted if the lambs have eaten the grain that was 
given them, and if so, more is put into the trough. 
At noon, they receive another allowance. In the 
evening, they are fed twice in the same way as in 
the morning, and they are left at night with some 
grain in their troughs. 

Quantity of grain to feed. — At first lambs will take 
but a small quantity of grain, but as soon as a few 
of them come to the trough at your call, the others 
soon follow and the grain is eagerly eaten. The best 
guide as to the quantity to feed is the judgment of 
the feeder. Liberal feeding is the source of liberal 



198 Sheep-Farming 

growth. It is possible to overforce lambs by in- 
judicious feeding with such foods as corn meal, but 
it is seldom that this results from feeding an equal 
mixture of bran and oil meal. When the lambs have 
reached the age of one month, they will eat and use to 
advantage one-half pound daily of this latter mixture. 
Feeding ewes that are suckling lambs. — If the ewes 
are in the shed when they are suckling their lambs, 
it will pay to feed them with such foods as bran and 
oats. When the ewes are on good pasture, no ad- 
vantage results from feeding the ewes grain. In an 
experiment with forty ewes and fifty-six lambs, the 
writer found that the lambs did not make a greater 
gain through feeding their dams grain when on pas- 
ture. The sheep were divided into four lots, with ten 
ewes and their fourteen lambs in each. In two of the 
lots, the lambs were fed grain, and the ewes grain 
and no grain. In the other two lots, the lambs were 
fed no grain, and the ewes grain and no grain, re- 
spectively. The following statement will make the 
difference in the feeding clear : — 

Lot I. Ewes fed grain ; lambs fed grain. 
Lot II. Ewes no grain ; lambs fed grain. 
Lot III. Ewes fed grain ; lambs no grain. 
Lot IV. Ewes no grain ; lambs no grain. 

The ewes in lot I ate 441 pounds of grain, and their 
lambs ate 443.5 pounds of the same mixture. In 
lot II, where the ewes did not receive any grain, 



Spring Management of the Flock 199 

the lambs ate 488.75 pounds of grain, and they 
gained 18.5 pounds more than the lambs of lot I, 
that, during ten weeks, gained 432.25 pounds. The 
only compensation for the feeding of the grain to the 
ewes was in the fact that those receiving grain lost 
in weight only the total of 80.9 pounds, while those 
in lot II lost a total of 111 pounds in ten weeks. 
The only difference in the feeding of lots III and 
IV lies in the management of the ewes. The ewes 
of lot III ate 583 pounds of grain and the lambs 
without grain made exactly the same gain and their 
dams had no grain. The grain fed to these sheep 
consisted of a mixture of one part oil meal and three 
parts bran during the first three weeks of the experi- 
ment, and one part crushed corn, one part oil meal, 
and two parts bran during the last seven weeks of 
the experiment. In addition to this, they had excel- 
lent pasturage. 

The ewes that are suckling lambs should have 
3 or 4 pounds of roots or silage as a part of their 
ration. Either of these will stimulate the flow of 
milk. Sweet and clean clover hay should be given 
them. The finer it is in the stalk and the more 
heads it contains, the better they like it. 

Castration of lambs. — The safest method of cas- 
tration is best performed when the lamb is one to two 
weeks old. If attempted before this time, the tes- 
ticles will be found to be small and soft, and as a 
result difficult to remove. Two persons are re- 



200 Sheep-Farming 

quired. One should hold the lamb tightly by gath- 
ering the four legs together and pressing the lamb 
tightly against his body. The operator taking hold 
of the scrotum and pulling the skin free from the 
testicles cuts it straight across about an inch from 
the body of the lamb. The testicles will then pro- 
trude. It will be noticed that there will be a con- 
striction near the end of the testicle. If this is slit, 
the testicle at once springs free of the covering, and 
it is easily removed by pulling it out after the slight 
attachment remaining at the end has been loosened. 
As much of the cord should be taken away as can be 
removed by pulling it. When the lambs are young 
and the testicle small, it should be drawn from the 
lamb without attempting to remove the outer cover- 
ing. The scrotum should be left open so that fester- 
ing may not occur. The lambs that are treated 
should be kept in a dry place for two days. If in- 
flammation sets in and pus forms and the lamb be- 
comes still worse, the part should be dressed with lard, 
the scrotum opened and the material that has 
collected pressed out, and the parts washed with an 
antiseptic solution such as that made with one part 
of creolin to fifty of water. A different method from 
those described is sometimes adopted : the testicles 
are pressed forward by the left hand to the front of 
the scrotum, and two cuts are made opposite the tes- 
ticle, and through those the testicles are then drawn 
out. This method is objectionable, as the cut heals 



Spring Management of the Flock 201 

so rapidly that if suppuration begins, there is no 
outlet for the pus that collects, and as a consequence 
inflammation follows. It is necessary to be careful 
to remove both of the testicles intact, for if this is 
not done, such a lamb will prove troublesome when 
being fattened with others. 

Docking the lambs. — The easiest and most agree- 
able way of docking is to have the lamb held in a 
manner similar to that desirable for castration, and 
when in that position, the tail is cut off with a sharp 
knife one inch or less from the body. It will be 
observed that it is at that distance that the skin of 
the body on the under side merges into the tail. 
It is advisable to do this as soon as the lambs have 
recovered from the effects of castration or in the 
instance of ewe lambs when they are a week or so 
old, for the reason that the tail thickens as they grow 
older and it becomes harder to locate a joint. If done 
when the lamb is not more than a week old, it will 
not suffer from the loss of blood. When lambs over 
six months old are to be docked, there will be a smaller 
loss of blood if a string is tightly tied just above the 
joint at which the tail is to be cut. If the lambs are 
in ordinary condition and not likely to become weak 
from the loss of a small quantity of blood, they may be 
docked similarly to the method described for younger 
lambs. Rather than dock lambs in the hot season 
when flies are numerous, it would be better to let 
them go until the cooler days in the fall. 



CHAPTER X 
SUMMER MANAGEMENT OF THE FLOCK 

During the summer months, the flock is too often 
completely neglected after the shearing has been 
accomplished. As a rule, the sheep are allowed to 
run in some large field where water is available to 
them, and they are left entirely to themselves during 
this season. While it is a time during which the 
sheep are well prepared to care for themselves, yet 
there are a few details requiring attention that add 
greatly to their thrift and comfort. 

Ordinarily all the ewes with lambs may run in one 
lot after turning to pasture. Ewes not having pro- 
duced lambs are usually disposed of before summer. 
Ewes having lost their lambs and which it is desired 
to retain to breed again may run with the nursing 
ewes, but if the size of the flock justifies two divisions, 
such as dry ewes may run with the yearlings, and if 
these are well wintered, a fair pasture will carry them 
into the fall in good shape. The possibility of the 
ewes breeding during summer renders it unadvisable 
to leave the ram with the main flock. He will usu- 
ally be contented in a separate lot until fall, but if 
not, one or two other sheep with him will insure 
quietude. 

202 



Summer Management of the Flock 203 

Salt and sulphur. — It is advisable to have places 
in the pasture or under shelter where the sheep may 
secure salt and sulphur at any time. This is probably 
the best time to feed the sheep sulphur, as they are 
less liable at this season to contract colds from eating 
much sulphur. In the spring and winter, there is a 
likelihood of contracting colds from eating it, but 
this is not likely to occur during the summer months. 
Rock salt may be used, but ordinary coarse salt is 
generally preferred. The sulphur should be mixed 
with the salt in sufficient quantities to give it a slight 
yellowish tinge. When the salt is fed in a granular 
form, the sheep will eat more of it than if it is given 
them in the rock condition. The salt should be be- 
fore them at all times. If it is only given them at rare 
intervals, they are apt to take too much when they 
have access to it. The plan followed by some shep- 
herds is to scatter salt around the weeds in the sheep 
pasture to induce the sheep to eat out the weeds. 

Fresh water required. — While sheep possess the 
ability to do without water with less annoyance than 
other classes of stock, yet it certainly adds to their 
comfort and health to have access to pure, fresh water 
at all times. Especially is this true during the hot, 
dry months of July and August. If there is not any 
running water in the pasture, they should be allowed 
to obtain well water at least once a day. 

Pasturing horses with sheep. — It is most unad- 
visable to pasture horses in the same field with the 



204 Sheep-Farming 

breeding flock. There are times when the horses 
feel inclined to rush about, and at such times some 
of the sheep are almost certain to be injured. 

Application of tar. — During the hot, dry season 
when the flies torment the sheep a great deal, it is advi- 
sable to coat the nostrils of all the sheep with pine tar. 
The best plan is to warm the tar until it becomes 
fluid, and then, with a stick that has a small piece of 
cloth wound around it, apply the tar to the nostrils. 
This wards off the attacks of the gadfly. This fly 
deposits the larva or living worm in the nostrils of the 
sheep ; in a short time, the larva passes up the nos- 
trils and lodges in the nasal sinuses. During the 
winter it develops, and the irritation that it causes 
produces the running at the nose, which is common 
among so many flocks in the winter season. The 
larva when developed is expelled by the sneezing of 
the sheep, especially when grain feed is given dry. It 
goes into the manure, then into the chrysalis state, 
and finally emerges in June or July as a mature fly. 

Shade in pastures. — During the summer season, 
the sheep should have some shade in their pastures. 
If they have access to a small grove of trees, this is all 
that is needed, but where they cannot have this, a 
cheap shelter may easily be constructed by means 
of boards. During the hot season, it will be noticed 
that the sheep feed mostly in the morning and in 
the evening, while in the intervening time they are 
lying down in the shade chewing their cuds. The 



Summer Management of the Flock 205 

feature of this season that seems to affect the sheep 
most is the burning noonday heat, and if they have 
any access to shelter under trees or cheaply con- 
structed sheds, they suffer no annoyance. The gad- 
fly is generally busiest just before sunset. 

Changing the pastures. — Instead of giving the 
flock the run of a very large pasture, better results 
can be obtained by limiting them to a small acreage 
at different times. They like a change, and by ar- 
ranging the pasture into fields of fair size, the pas- 
turage may be better maintained. In a large pasture, 
the sheep form the habit of grazing in certain places, 
and these they will eat very close, while neglecting 
the rest, as soon as they have access to these places 
that seem to suit them best. Grazing in its native 
habitat, the sheep roams over considerable territory, 
and under farm conditions is benefited by frequent 
changes more than is any other farm stock. Where 
permanent pastures are the sole reliance, there is 
danger in all the central and eastern states from the 
stomach worm. The eggs are left on the ground by 
infected sheep and taken in by the lambs when 
grazing. The infection is seldom troublesome to 
the ewes. 

Guarding against worms. — Infection of the lambs is 
to be avoided by allowing them to graze only on ground 
that has been cultivated since having been passed over 
by infected animals. When this is not convenient, 
recourse is sometimes had to the plan of keeping 



206 Sheep-Farming 

the lambs all the time in the shed and bare lots, where 
there is no means of the eggs being taken in. The 
ewes run on the pastures and come in to nurse the 
lambs two or three times each day. By feeding the 
lamb a tempting grain ration, little trouble is ex- 
perienced in separating them when the ewes are to 
return to the pasture. Such lambs can be fed to 
carry along as fast as desired and can be weaned 
without serious setback, and in the fall can be run 
upon forage crops sown in summer upon fresh un- 
tainted ground. This plan requires considerable 
attention to the flock, but has worked successfully. 
Summer grazing crops. — It is likely to be more satis- 
factory to go a step farther and provide a rotation of 
grazing crops to carry the ewes and lambs from the 
first of the season until weaning. After that, the ewes 
can go on old grass land and the lambs to freshly 
seeded land or to other green crops. This is the plan 
of summer keep on British farms that are stocked very 
heavily with sheep. As well as insuring continued 
thrift for the lambs, it requires a much smaller acreage 
than is needed if only grass is used. It involves some 
extra labor in preparing the ground and seeding at fre- 
quent intervals to insure a succession of fresh grazing, 
but it is only by this plan that intensive farming with 
sheep is likely to be really profitable. As an offset 
to the crop sowing and moving of the sheep, allow- 
ance must be made for the economy in having the 
crop harvested without labor. The plan is not 



Summer Management of the Flock 207 

likely to be practical unless the flock is of sufficient 
size to justify its having the first call upon the time 
of one man even during the summer. It is the 
smaller flocks that stand as a side issue and are turned 
into a regular pasture from spring until fall that be- 
come unhealthy and unprofitable. 

To secure the greatest use of the grazing crop, the 
English shepherd sets light hurdles to confine the 
flock to a small area until it is closely eaten. These 
are advanced as necessary, and narrow openings allow 
the lambs to run through to the new ground ahead 
of the ewes. They may be fed grain here, also, if it 
is desired to finish them quickly. 

It is possible to carry a flock from spring until 
winter upon sown crops. One piece of land sown to 
rye will furnish fall and spring pasture and can be 
reseeded to furnish oats and peas later or a fall crop 
of rape. Early sown oats or oats and field peas can 
be ready after the rye is gone, and a new clover field 
may be used before the second crop is ready. Spring 
and summer pasture is sometimes furnished by a 
stand of clover seeded at the end of cultivation of a 
corn crop. Rape sown with small grains furnishes 
good fall pasture in some seasons. There is a dan- 
ger of its making growth enough to be troublesome 
in the grain harvest. The same crop can be sown 
between the corn rows, or it can be grown separately 
for earlier feeding. Early sown rape is ordinarily 
ready for grazing two months after it comes up. 



208 Sheep-Farming 

By seeding small pieces at different dates, a succes- 
sion of crops can be secured to furnish feed for a 
long period. The most satisfactory results from the 
use of rape are secured when it is seeded on well- 
prepared rich ground. On most soils it does as well 
drilled in rows 30 inches apart on the flat at the rate 
of 2 pounds per acre as when planted on ridges. 
Grown in rows, the soil can be kept stirred and a 
large crop secured ; also there is less waste than there 
is in grazing the crop sown broadcast. A good stand 
of rape well grown has been shown at the Wisconsin 
Experiment Station to be sufficient to carry twenty 
lambs for two months on one acre. These lambs 
were also on a medium grain ration. For ewes with 
lambs two or three months old, neither receiving 
grain, it would be well to plan at the rate of an 
acre per month for twenty-five head of ewes and 
lambs combined. 

If it is desired to cut the crop for feeding, it should 
be cut about 4 inches from the ground. When cut 
at this height, or when it is not grazed too closely and 
the weather is not very dry, it will make a growth 
to furnish considerable feed from the second crop. 
Some care is necessary in getting sheep accustomed 
to rape. It is not safe to give free access to it when 
coming from a short pasture, and they should not 
be turned into it at first without having their stom- 
achs partly filled from some other pasture. 

Oats, peas, and vetches are other crops that can 



Summer Management of the Flock 209 

be used to maintain the supply of summer feed. 
Cabbage affords a large amount of the best of feed, 
and when it can be raised and fed in a suitable 
place, is a very valuable feed. 

Alfalfa is one of the most valuable forage crops. 
It can be used to carry sheep all through the season 
or for use when none of the other crops is ready. 
If it is to be used as one of several crops for such use, 
it is likely to be much more satisfactory to cut it 
and feed it green on other ground. By carefully 
getting sheep accustomed to running on alfalfa and 
having a clean pasture to use in conjunction with it, 
some flockmasters get along with little loss. This, 
however, is when it is used for some length of time, 
and not when the sheep are being changed from one 
crop to another. 

Weaning. — There is considerable variation in the 
ages at which lambs are weaned, but at four months 
of age is the standard time. It is not often considered 
necessary to take out the older ones first, though if 
some of the lambs are much younger than the others, 
it may be advisable to leave them with their dams 
after the older ones are weaned. With good fall 
management to insure a short lambing season, the 
lambs are all ready for weaning at the same time 
and the ewes uniformly prepared for breeding and 
another short lambing time. Weaning may be done 
at ten or twelve weeks, though such is possible only 
when there is plenty of good green feed available 



210 Sheep-Farming 

for the lambs. If, when the lambs are this age, it is 
not convenient for them to have access to grass land 
uninfected with stomach worms, part of each day, 
when rape or alfalfa is furnishing the grazing, they 
can be weaned, and the ewes alone allowed to use the 
old pastures that are scanty or unsafe for lambs. 
The lambs can then be given some grain feed or 
furnished cut forage the first part of the day, to 
insure against bloating when on the other crops. 

Lambs dropped in February can be made to weigh 
60 pounds in May and, at the price usually obtain- 
able up to that time, bring more than if carried to 
greater weights and sold later in the season. The 
earlier they can be made heavy and fat enough 
to market, the greater the advantage, and grain feed- 
ing at this time is always well repaid. 

When lambs are marketed at around three months 
of age or separated from the ewes for other reasons 
at that age, there is more danger of trouble with the 
ewes than when they are kept in milk a longer time. 
Under the English system of hurdling on grazing 
crops and letting the lambs run ahead of the ewes, 
weaning can be done gradually with advantage to 
both the lambs and their mothers. The lambs have 
their grain trough in the fresh grazing in front of 
the hurdles that keep the ewes back. While the 
lambs are in front, the ewes are removed to shorter 
and drier pasture. The length of time away is 
increased each day. With the shorter and drier 




2 1 




Summer Management of the Flock 211 

feed, the milk supply is diminished and the lambs 
take more feed and experience minimum effects 
from the change. 

Whether separated abruptly or gradually, special 
provision should be made to have the lambs feeding 
well. When this is done and the lambs remain in 
the place they are accustomed to while the ewes 
are removed out of their hearing, there need be but 
slight interruption to growth. 

In any case, the ewes need to be kept on shorter 
feed to check the milk flow. Hand-milking of some 
ewes is sometimes necessary to prevent spoiled 
udders. Pasture suitable for ewes being dried up 
is not ordinarily hard to obtain in July or August. 
If the lambs are weaned early, the ewes have a good 
deal of time in which they are not producers, and the 
pastures can be stocked heavily to keep down the 
cost of carrying them. Considerable feed is gener- 
ally furnished by the waste in small grain fields, and 
as breeding time approaches better feeding is neces- 
sary. 

Lambs that are to be fattened in winter will prob- 
ably not require grain feeding when weaned, but 
that will depend upon the other feed they are receiv- 
ing. At that age they make the fullest use of feed 
and grow more economically than they can when 
they are older. They can be kept doing well on 
rape and clover until winter, with grain or good hay 
furnished as the season advances, so that when taken 



212 Sheep-Farming 

to winter quarters, they are accustomed to the feeds 
that must be used there. 

Ewe lambs to be kept for breeders will do well 
enough under the same treatment until the finishing 
for market is begun. If ram lambs are kept, they 
may run with the ewe lambs some weeks after wean- 
ing, but it is preferable that they should be separated 
at the same time. Whether to be sold as lambs or 
carried into yearling form, the rams require grain 
through the fall to secure full development, without 
which rams of any age are poor sellers. 

Time for shearing. — Shearing may be discussed 
as a part of either spring or summer management. 
The time at which it may best be done depends upon 
location, housing facilities, and time of lambing for 
breeding ewes. There may be actual losses or seri- 
ous setbacks for some sheep if the wool is removed 
early and warm quarters not provided. Fattening 
sheep thrive especially well when relieved of their 
fleeces and can be penned more closely so that there 
is no particular expense or difficulty in affording 
necessary warmth and shelter. Wooled sheep usu- 
ally sell on the market at a price that takes into ac- 
count the value of the fleece on the basis of the wool 
market at the time. If one prefers to wait for a 
change in the wool market, he should shear before 
shipping. There is another advantage in that a 
greater number of shorn sheep than of wooled ones 
can be shipped in a car. 



Summer Management of the Flock 213 

There is not much relation between time of shear- 
ing and quality of wool except as the sheep may be 
in a poorer or better condition at a later time. 
Breeding ewes are likely to yield sounder and evener 
fleeces before lambing time. After the usual lamb- 
ing time, however, the fleece will be of greater length 
and weight, and the oil more abundant in warmer 
weather. Abundant oil or yolk gives added weight 
to a fleece, but no greater actual value. In farming 
sections, small lots of wool are generally bought at a 
flat rate, and the actual value on a scoured basis not 
computed by the buyer, as is done when large lots 
are appraised. 

Sheep shorn both in the spring and fall produce 
a greater weight of wool than if shorn but once, but 
the shorter staple has a lower value and there is no 
real gain. When the summer wool gathers more 
dirt and foreign matter than does the winter growth, 
fall shearing gives a short but cleaner and more 
valuable spring clip, which is not deteriorated by 
having in it the foreign matter of the fall clip. This 
applies in sections of dry summers and mild winter 
seasons. 

Manner of shearing. — The things to be aimed at in 
removing the fleece are quiet and quick work, to 
avoid injury to the sheep, and keeping the fleece in 
an attractive form. Careless shearers allow the 
fleece to be torn apart by the struggling of the sheep, 
and what are called second cuts greatly impair the 



214 Sheep-Farming 

marketable value of wool. Second cuts are the 
result of not cutting close to the body. At one part 
of the stroke of the shears or clippers, cutting is done 
close to the skin, while at the other end of the stroke 
the blades are cutting so as to leave a quarter or a 
half inch of wool next to the skin. This makes a 
shorter staple at such places, and if, as often happens, 
the shearer returns and clips the short wool previ- 
ously run over, that part has a low value because of 
its insufficient length to be used in the factory along 
with the rest of the fleece. 

Washing before shearing. — The custom of washing 
before shearing is now practically obsolete. Careful 
washing does remove dirt and gives a cleaner wool. 
At the same time the oil is removed, though if ten 
days of warm weather intervene between washing 
and shearing, the fleece will have its normal weight. 
Nowadays shearing is usually done too early in the 
season to permit of washing sheep with safety, and 
it is much better to prevent dirt and chaff from get- 
ting into the wool in the first place, by being careful 
in feeding and bedding and having properly con- 
structed feed racks. 

Place for shearing. — Shearing should be done 
on a platform of sufficient size to prevent the shorn 
wool from getting into the dirt, or about 10 feet 
square. The floor of a barn is a suitable place, as 
far as keeping the wool clean is concerned. The 
shearing platform should be kept swept, and as each 



Summer Management of the Flock 215 

sheep is brought on and turned up for shearing, all 
straw and dirt adhering should be removed. Most 
buyers will make it to the advantage of the wool- 
grower to separate the tags or dung locks and sell 
them separately so that no allowance need be made 
for them in estimating the value of the fleeces. 

The shearing machine has almost altogether super- 
seded the hand shears. It is much easier for the 
shearer and, except on very wrinkly or heavy folded 
Merinos, is much faster. Machine shearing also 
makes it possible to cut closer to the skin and thus 
get more wool as well as having a smoother looking 
sheep than is turned out by any but the most care- 
ful hand shearers. The hand-power machine is not 
expensive and unless more than 100 sheep are kept, 
a power machine is not likely to be economical, 
though it is wholly practical for a number of sheep 
owners to combine in buying a power shearing outfit 
for their joint use and perhaps for shearing for other 
owners. 

The accompanying figures (Figs. 37-47, Pis. 
XV-XX) show one expert's way of taking off a fleece 
and his way of handling his sheep. There is great 
variation in the way good shearers commence on a 
sheep and in the way they go from one part of the 
body to the other. The system shown in the illus- 
trations leaves the fleece in good condition and calls 
for a minimum of handling of the sheep. 

Tying the fleece. — Special types of boxes were 



216 Sheep-Farming 

once in use for rolling and tying fleeces in a very 
attractive form. The market now prefers a fleece 
tied more loosely (Fig. 48, PL XX). A neat job may 
be made by spreading the fleece on the floor, flesh 
side down, then folding the sides in and rolling from 
neck to other end and tying firmly with hard, smooth 
twine wrapped around once each way and tied se- 
curely. Sisal or any other twine from which fibers 
get into the wool is very objectionable. These vege- 
table fibers cannot be separated from the wool, 
and being of a different nature do not absorb dyes, 
and this makes it impossible to use wool tied with 
such twine except for cheap fabrics in which the 
uncolored fibers are not so seriously objectionable. 
The harder twines are likely to come untied and allow 
the fleece to fall apart. There are twines made of 
paper especially for tying wool; "India" three-ply, 
size No. 4 J, is well adapted for the purpose. 

Wool can be stored with very small probability of 
deterioration or loss of weight. Any place that is 
clean and dry is suitable for storing, and even if 
stored for but a short time, it is best to pack the 
fleeces in the regular sacks made for the purpose. 

Dipping. — Ordinarily, sheep require dipping at 
least once a year, and twice is often necessary. For 
scab or other diseases more frequent, special dipping 
may be needed, as discussed in Chapter XV. It is 
seldom safe to forego dipping the entire flock shortly 
after shearing. At this time, most of the ticks are 



Summer Management of the Flock 217 

on the lambs and are a handicap and annoyance to 
them. Less dip is required when the older sheep 
are short of wool. With lambs less than three 
weeks old, there is a danger of disowning by their 
mothers on account of the dip destroying the scent 
by which the lamb is recognized. If this happens, 
the lamb is not allowed to suck, and some trouble is 
necessary to effect a reconciliation. Unless the flock 
is wholly free from ticks, a fall dipping is desirable. 
This should be done before the weather is cold enough 
to render the sheep liable to cold. 

Lambs can be easily dipped in a barrel. A wide 
trough may be utilized for larger sheep, but care and 
patience must be exercised to make sure that the 
dip reaches all parts of the body. 

A swimming-bath of the following dimensions will 
be found most suitable for a flock of several hundred ; 
it can either be made of pine boarding lined with 
zinc or of concrete. Let the length of tank be 20 
feet, and 2 feet wide at top, narrowing to 1 foot 
at bottom. The tank is 5 feet deep at one end, the 
depth extending to one-third of its length. The bot- 
tom then stands up from this point to the top of the 
end ; it is on this slope that the sheep leave the vat, 
and ought to be battened every 6 or 8 inches, 
so as to make egress easy for the sheep into the 
dripper. A pen to hold the required number of 
sheep for dipping is built at the deep end of the 
tank, with the floor raised 2 feet, forming a drop 



218 Sheep-Farming 

into the tank by means of an opening in the side 
next it, and about the same width. At the other 
end is the dripper of the same size as that made 
for holding the sheep before dipping. Its floor 
must be sloping, so that the dip coming from the 
sheep will drain back into the tank. 



CHAPTER XI 
WOOL 

Breeders of fine-wool sheep study the fleeces of 
their animals almost to the exclusion of attention 
to carcass points. Raisers of mutton sheep cannot 
afford to neglect the wool-bearing qualities of their 
sheep. A good deal can be done to increase the 
amount and value of the wool produced by mutton 
sheep without impairing their usefulness as meat 
producers. In addition to this, certain qualities of 
the fleece are associated with general health and 
vigor and adaptability to farm conditions. One of 
the most important requirements in any fleece is 
density. 

Density. — The density of the fleece means the 
closeness of the fibers. Technically it means the 
number of fibers that grow on a square inch. Den- 
sity is not only of value to secure a heavy fleece, but 
from a breeder's point of view, its chief importance 
lies in the fact that it is more protection to the sheep 
than a fleece that is open. Not only is a sheep with 
a loose, open fleece more liable to contract cold from 
exposure to rain or wind, but it is also more apt to 
yield a dirty fleece, as the loose fleece catches the 
dirt and dust and pieces of hay and straw. From 

219 



220 Sheep-Farming 

the shepherd's point of view, the denseness of the 
fleece is its leading feature, for it will be found that 
those animals with dense, close fleeces are less subject 
to such diseases as catarrh, running at the nose, or 
scouring. When a sheep experiences a chill, it at 
once affects the circulation and sends the blood to 
the internal organs, and inflammation or scouring 
results. This is why sheep that have open fleeces 
are more subject to such diseases than those that 
have dense fleeces. Wool is one of the best non- 
conductors of heat that we have, and when it is on a 
sheep in the form of a dense fleece, it gives them the 
greatest possible protection from exposure. Further- 
more, if the fleece is not dense, it is almost impos- 
sible for the fiber to be sound, — that is, free from 
weak spots. When a sheep has been badly chilled 
or has become sick in any way, so as to cause the 
pores of the skin to contract, a break or shrinkage 
occurs in the fiber at that point. The wool on a 
sheep grows from a small sac in the skin, and it passes 
away from the skin through a small opening that 
may be easily contracted or expanded, according to 
different influences. The influences are various, 
and for that reason it is important that the sheep 
be covered with a fleece that is so dense as not to 
be affected much by external conditions. 

Length of staple. — The length of the staple is an 
important feature, both from a commercial point of 
view and from the shepherd's standpoint. Wools 









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Wool 221 

are generally known as short-stapled or the carding 
wools, which are used for woolen cloth, or long- 
stapled or combing wools, which are used for worsted 
cloth. The long-stapled wools include the Lincoln, 
Leicester, Cotswold, Romney Marsh, and Black- 
face or Highland. The short-stapled include all 
the Downs (Southdown, Hampshire, Suffolk, Shrop- 
shire, Oxford) and the Cheviot and Welsh. The 
manufacturer of woolens desires a short-stapled wool, 
for such a wool has better felting qualities and usu- 
ally more serrations or spirals than the long wools. 
In manufacturing woolens into yarns, the fibers are 
transversely disposed to the axis or length of the 
thread. In yarns of this nature this feature is 
termed "pile." The points projecting from the 
center should be numerous, so that in felting the 
fabric unites and also when the cloth comes to be 
finished, it will appear on top like short fur. On 
the other hand, in worsted goods the object is to 
stretch the fibers and lay them parallel with each 
other, and this produces a yarn even, strong, and 
composed of as fine fibers as possible. In this pro- 
cess of manufacture, it is easy to see that the length 
and strength of a fiber includes its most valuable 
characteristics. 

Examining the fleece. — In examining and valuing 
the fleece, the chief points to consider are the quantity, 
quality, and condition. The quantity is determined 
by the length and density. Quality of wool depends 



222 Sheep-Farming 

upon fineness, luster, and brightness. Condition 
refers to soundness, purity, and oil or yolk. The 
best method of studying the nature of the fleece on 
the sheep is to open it first just over the shoulder. 
In this region the finest of the wool is found. By 
using the hands in a flat position instead of sticking 
the ends of the fingers into the wool, the fleece may 
be parted in a more satisfactory manner. After 
looking at the wool and the skin in this region, the 
thigh should be the next place of examination, for 
here grows the poorest and coarsest wool of the whole 
fleece. Then the covering of the wool on the belly 
also demands notice, for very often sheep are quite 
poor in this region, making the wool light and indi- 
cating a lack of constitution. By partially closing 
the hand upon the surface of the fleece, one may 
readily judge the density. 

Fineness. — Ordinarily, fineness will be in propor- 
tion to density, but among dense fleeces there may 
be a wide variation in fineness. When the fleece is 
parted at the side of the shoulder, the extent to which 
the fibers appear to be closely packed together shows 
the fineness. "Crimp" is a term used to designate 
the waves or folds that are to be seen all along the 
length of the fibers. Fineness is proportionate to 
the closeness of these folds. In coarse-wooled sheep 
they are little more than waves, while in the finer 
breeds the crimp shows as folds at right angles to 
the length of the fiber and very close together. 



Wool 223 

Wool from a sheep that has been sick or is unsound 
from any other cause can be seen to have a less close 
crimp in the part of the fiber that is weak. In 
stretching locks of such unsound wool, it will be found 
that they always break at the same place. 

Shrinkage of wool. — As a rule, the finer the wool, 
the heavier the oil. Some wools shrink as much as 
sixty per cent when scoured, while lighter, open fleeces 
may not lose over thirty per cent. 

The table on the following pages from Michigan 
Bulletin No. 178 shows weights, shrinkages, and 
market grades of fleeces from sheep of various 
breeds. 

Market grades. — The table (pp. 224-225) does not 
mean that the wool from a particular breed of sheep 
is always given the same grade upon the market. 
The wool trade has no regard for breed, and grades 
wools upon the basis of length, fineness, quality, and 
condition. Condition in this case includes oil, sound- 
ness, freedom from foreign matter, and way of tying 
and packing. The following list of prices includes 
the various classes and grades quoted on the Boston 
market : — 



Ohio and Pennsylvania Fleeces 




XX 


28-29 


| blood combing . . 


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Fine unwashed . . 


21i 


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Fine unmerchantable 


23 


Delaine unwashed . . 


. 26 


^ blood combing . 


30 


Delaine washed . . . 


. 32 


f blood combing . 


30 







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226 



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Michigan, Wisconsin, 


New 


York Fleeces 




Fine unwashed . . . 


m 


Delaine unwashed . . 


24 


\ blood unwashed . . 


28 


f blood unwashed . . 


28 


| blood unwashed . . 


28-29 


J, |, I clothing . . . 


21-22 



Kentucky, Indiana, and 
Missouri Fleeces 

| blood 28-29 

I blood 28-29 

Braid 22| 

Georgia 21-22 

Texas Fleeces 
(Scoured basis) 

Fine 12 months . . 53-54 
Fine 6 to 8 months . 48 

Fine fall 43 

California Fleece 
(Scoured basis). 



Northern 
Middle county 
Southern . . 
Fall free . . 
Fall defective 



50-52 
48-50 
46-47 
42-44 
36-38 



Oregon Fleeces 
(Scoured basis) 

Eastern No. 1 staple . 58 

Eastern No. 1 clothing 50 

Valley No. 1 ... 47-48 

Valley No. 2 . . . 44-45 

Valley No. 3 . . . 39-40 

Territory Fleeces 
(Scoured basis) 

Fine staple .... 62-63 

Fine medium staple . 58-60 

Fine clothing . . . 55-56 

Fine medium clothing 51-53 

\ blood combing . . 58-60 

f blood combing . . 51-52 

\ blood combing . . 47-49 

Pulled Fleeces 
(Scoured basis) 

Extra 55-57 

Fine A ...... 53-55 

A supers 51-53 

B supers 53-54 

C supers 36-38 

Fine combing . . . 53-54 

Medium combing . . 50-52 

Coarse combing . . 40-45 

California finest . . 48-50 

California second . . 47-48 



The wool grown east of the Mississippi is all from 
farm-raised sheep. For this reason, it contains less 



Wool 227 

dirt and sand than is usually found in the wools from 
the range state. Texas, California, and Oregon wool 
clips are quoted separately, as they have certain pecul- 
iar characteristics distinguishing them from wools 
of other regions. The Ohio and Pennsylvania wools 
comprise chiefly the fleeces of highly bred and well- 
car ed-f or Merinos and are preferred for that reason. 
The XX grade is the finest obtainable, and is used for 
clothing purposes, being too short for combing. 
The grade "fine" is one grade coarser than XX, half 
blood is still coarser, and quarter blood, two grades 
coarser than half blood. The relation of these grades 
may be made clearer if instead of XX, we use the 
term "full blood." The term "full blood," when so 
used, by no means includes the wools of all pure- 
bred Merinos, but simply means the finest, and in 
the same sense, the next lowest grade would be X or 
three-quarters blood, then half, three-eighths, and 
one-quarter blood, respectively. Delaine wools are 
those that would grade as fine and have in addition 
extra length of staple to render them suitable for 
fancy fabrics. Similar wools in the territory classes 
are designated fine staple and fine medium staple. 

Practically all fleeces from the various styles of 
Merinos, including Rambouillets, will fall into grades 
higher than half blood. Most Southdowns will 
run around three-eighths blood and usually clothing. 
Some Shropshire fleeces may grade three eighths 
and may be either clothing or combing. But few 



228 Sheep-Farming 

Oxfords will grade higher than one-quarter blood, 
and the best Cotswolds or Lincolns would be classed 
as quarter bloods and the coarsest as braid or coarse 
combing. The coarser wool shrinks the least, and 
quoted on grease basis looks higher than the finer 
grades, but this difference disappears when values on 
the scoured basis are studied. 

Prices and demand for various grades fluctuate 
very widely from one season to another, depending 
very largely upon the fashions in ladies' dress goods 
and men's suitings. When worsteds are popular, the 
longer wools are sought for, and when cloth goods 
are worn, the shorter and finer wools are on a higher 
price basis. 

Pulled wools are secured mainly from the pelts of 
sheep killed at the packing-houses. 

The meaning of the term "unmerchantable" is 
shown in a recent announcement of the Boston Wool 
Trade Association : "Fleeces grown east of the Mis- 
sissippi River and also in the states of Minnesota, 
Iowa, and Missouri shall not be considered merchant- 
able unless rolled into a firm bundle, flesh side out, 
free from tags or parts of other fleeces, tied with a 
hard glazed twine not heavier or larger than what is 
known in the twine trade as size 4|-3 ply India, 
using not more than three single strings each way of 
the fleece, and all knots firmly tied. Wool put up 
otherwise than in this manner shall be considered 
unmerchantable and shall be subject to a discount 
of at least one cent per pound." 



CHAPTER XII 
EARLY LAMB-RAISING 

The phrase "early lamb-raising" refers to the 
production of lambs in the fall and early winter to 
be marketed when a few weeks old. There has been 
a growing demand in the larger cities for this baby 
lamb, or hot-house lamb as it is called, during the 
winter months. It belongs in the class of delicacies 
with hot-house lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, 
fresh strawberries, and green peas at Christmas. 
It is the most profitable branch of the sheep business 
when rightly conducted, and is likely to remain so, 
because the sheep, to a greater extent than any other 
farm animal, adheres to its habit of yeaning in the 
spring, thus making it difficult to get lambs in the 
fall, and for the additional reason that few men 
will give the business that nice attention necessary 
to produce a strictly first-class lamb. The season 
for marketing the lambs begins at Thanksgiving and 
extends throughout the winter. 

The lamb should weigh not less than 40 pounds 
at 8 weeks of age. That is the minimum weight at 
which the lamb should ever be butchered, and at 
that weight only at the opening of the season. Even 
then lambs 5 pounds heavier would command a 

229 



230 Sheep-Farming 

higher price were they on the market. Later in the 
season, lambs should range between 45 and 50 pounds 
when slaughtered. The condition of the market, 
the weather, and the lambs should be taken into 
account in deciding whether to slaughter at the 
lighter weight. If the lamb is very fat, the weather 
and the market good, or if the lamb is getting too 
old, better slaughter at 45 pounds of weight ; other- 
wise the chances are in favor of profit in holding a 
week or two longer. 

The breeding flock. — There are only three breeds 
of ewes that yield, to a profitable extent, in changing 
their breeding habit from fall to spring : the Dorset, 
Merino, and Tunis. A small per cent of Downs and 
Long Wools will breed for January lambs, but the 
best prices generally prevail from Christmas through 
January and February. By March the number 
going to market depresses the price. 

Because Tunis and Dorset are found in such small 
numbers in this country, the vast majority of ewes 
employed in the production of winter lambs are 
Merinos or High Grades of some of the three breeds 
mentioned. The Merinos used are the better mut- 
ton type families. When mated with rams of the 
mutton breeds, they produce very satisfactory lambs, 
though requiring two or three weeks longer to grow 
to marketable size. Some winter-lamb growers 
fatten and sell the ewe flock each year; others re- 
tain them several years, even throughout their use- 



Early Lamb-Raising 231 

fulness. Unless one has special advantages for se- 
curing ewes, I think it better to retain the flock from 
year to year, discarding annually only such as do 
not prove good mothers and those past the prime 
of life. After a ewe has begun to decline from ad- 
vancing age, she will not produce as good lambs, her 
fleece will be lighter, and she herself will shrink in 
value very rapidly. Up to six years, or even eight 
with Merinos, ewes will produce better lambs than 
when younger. 

With the right breed of ewes, the only secret un- 
der the control of man in stimulating breeding at 
this season of the year is that of feeding the ewe 
flock so as to have them improving in condition. 
Ewes that have never raised a lamb in the spring 
more readily breed for fall lambs. Cool, cloudy 
weather at the breeding season is favorable for mat- 
ing. Even with all conditions favorable, it is not 
possible to secure as rapid mating in the summer as 
in the fall. Nor have I ever had as large a per cent 
of ewes breed during the summer months as in the 
fall. If 90 per cent of them mate, I consider it 
satisfactory. 

Management at mating season. — Shear the ewe 
flock in April and feed well. There is nothing better 
than corn when a legume, hay, or fresh grass accom- 
panies it. And I have found that it paid to feed 
corn once a day, no matter how good the pasture. 
Turn in the rams by May 15, and continue feed- 



232 Sheep-Farming 

ing the grain once a day for two weeks, or longer, 
depending upon the condition of the ewe. 

While desirable rams can be secured for $20 or 
less, it is economy to purchase an extra ram or two 
and turn with the flock rather than to attempt hand- 
breeding or to remove the ram daily and return to 
the flock each night. I have found it advantageous 
to turn two rams at a time with a flock of one hun- 
dred or more up to three hundred, leaving them in 
for a week or ten days and replacing with two others 
for a like period. 

The presence of the second ram is an incentive to 
a little greater activity. Yet there is very little 
danger of rams fighting at this time in the year. A 
mature ram will get seventy-five to one hundred 
lambs. Any of the Downs, the Dorset, or Tunis 
are suitable. An advantage of the latter two is 
that their ewe lambs may be added to the breeding 
flock if desired. The rams should be removed by 
the 1st of September if it is the intention to keep 
the flock for winter lambs another season. A ewe 
that yeans after February and nurses her lamb to 
marketable size is not likely to breed early enough 
the following summer. Only occasional ewes, and 
they under high feeding, will mate with ram while 
nursing a lamb. It is not practicable to raise two 
crops of lambs a year. 

Management of ewe and lamb. — As late in the 
fall as weather permits and pasture remains good, 



Early Lamb-Raising 233 

the ewes should have a daily run in the field. They 
should also have grain. When the grass is of new 
growth, corn is a satisfactory grain ; but if the grass is 
mature, from early summer growth, the grain should 
be in part oats, bran, or some feed rich in protein. 
When the pastures fail or the weather becomes un- 
favorable for grazing, silage is the most satisfactory 
substitute for grass. However, as it has a much 
wider nutritive ratio, it must be supplemented by 
highly nitrogenous concentrates. The cost of a 
unit of protein may determine the choice of form in 
which this is to be purchased. As a rule, the higher 
the per cent of protein in the feed, the lower its cost. 
Oats and bran, at the usual market prices, are ex- 
pensive sources of protein. Cotton seed meal has an 
advantage over linseed as a supplement to silage in 
that it counteracts the laxative effect of the silage, 
and when it can be bought at the same price, or less, 
per ton as bran, it is to be preferred, especially to 
feed in connection with silage. 

Silage may be advantageously fed to the extent 
of four pounds per head daily at two feeds. The 
need of a protein supplement to the silage can be 
somewhat reduced by mixing soy beans or cowpeas 
with corn in the silo. 

In latitudes where beets thrive well, they may 
be substituted for silage, also the beet pulp from the 
sugar factory. And it should be said that ewes can 
be successfully fed without any of these succulent 



234 Sheep-Farming 

feeds, but, as a rule, not so cheaply. The corn plant 
should always be the basis of the ration. When fed, 
dry linseed meal is a valuable supplement. It is 
very difficult to make a satisfactory ration without 
clover, alfalfa, soy bean, or cowpea hay. 

Feeding the lambs. — Soon after the lambs are 
two weeks old, they will begin to eat and should have 
a trough from which the old sheep are kept by a creep, 
through which the lambs can pass, but not the old 
sheep. The lambs should also have a separate rack 
for hay and be supplied with choice clover or alfalfa. 
They should not be required to eat more than the 
choice part, the balance being removed and fed to 
the ewes or other stock. The grain for the lambs 
may consist of corn, wheat, and oats with various 
mill feeds. Of all concentrates lambs prefer corn. 
For the very young ones it may be cracked, never 
finely ground, but after they are a month old, shelled 
corn is entirely satisfactory, and when alfalfa hay is 
fed in abundance, may be the only grain. However, 
a variety of concentrates is always advantageous ; 
even sugar may be added with profit. When the 
hay is not the choicest, bran should be used largely, 
care being taken to have it fresh. A slight mixture 
of some of the molasses feeds is relished. 

As soon as the lambs are eating well, they should 
be retained in the stable, though the mothers go out 
to graze. It is advisable to keep the lambs as quiet 
as possible. Lambs are easily separated from their 



Early Lamb-Raising 235 

mothers by fastening them in their eating room by 
a gate closing the creep. This confinement of the 
lambs also makes it much easier to return the flock 
to the stable. A lot of frolicking lambs are often 
very trying on the attendant's patience when at- 
tempting to drive them into a stable. Fresh water 
and salt should be accessible to the flock at all times. 
No other condiment is necessary or profitable. 

Marketing the lambs. — When a lamb gets large 
enough so that it passes through an eight-inch space 
— the width of the spaces in the creep — with diffi- 
culty, it is about ready for marketing. However, 
the more accurate gauge of the scales should be em- 
ployed in the selection of lambs for slaughter until 
the shepherd has had experience enough in handling 
them to make close estimate of weights. One more 
week's growth will often make a difference of one or 
two dollars in the selling value. 

Before any lambs are ready for slaughter, the owner 
should communicate with some well-recommended 
commission firm and ask for instructions as to the 
form in which they desire them dressed. Different 
markets have different demands in this particular, 
hence it is not advisable to describe here the form of 
dressing in detail. Some mention of method, how- 
ever, may be helpful. In the evening before the 
lambs are to be slaughtered, separate them from the 
ewes and confine away from feed, but within hearing 
of their mothers. In the morning catch and confine 



236 



Sheep-Farming 



the mothers in a pen arranged for that purpose 
convenient to the main flock. They may be identi- 
fied by returning the lambs and allowing them to 
find their mothers. An easier method, however, is 



■F 



Fig. 49. — Rack for hanging up lambs for butchering. 

to put a similar mark on both ewe and lamb at some 
earlier time when they are found together. It is 
important that the mothers of the slaughtered lambs 
be confined on short rations and their milk drawn 
occasionally until they are dried off. It is a good 
practice to let younger lambs in the flock, that may 
not be getting enough from their own mothers, suck 
these ewes once or twice a day for one or two weeks. 
Equipment for butchering. — Provide a place con- 
venient to the stable for butchering and hanging 
until cool. The convenient way of killing is to sus- 
pend by hind legs by means of strong twine looped 




S3 







Early Lamb-Raising 237 

about the pasterns and hung on a peg in a support, 
as shown in Fig. 49. The two supports are 1X4 
inch boards. Their lower end should be about 6 
feet above the floor. They should be fastened at 
the top by a single bolt and be about 30 inches apart. 
Two or three holes at different distances from the 
lower ends enable the butcher to hang the lambs 
at the height most convenient for himself. A method 
that appeals to some as more humane is to fasten 
the lamb in a trough at convenient height with its 
head out over one end. Two small butcher knives 
with keen edges should be provided, also a vessel 
for catching the blood. Kill by severing the large 
artery and jugular vein in the neck (Fig. 50, PL 
XXI). Death is hastened by severing the spinal cord 
between the first and second vertebra. It adds to 
the appearance of the carcass to trim away all 
stained wool about the tail and flanks, also along the 
belly and brisket, and to wash the bare skin in the 
arm pits. The carcass should hang in a cool, airy 
place for twelve to twenty-four hours before being 
wrapped and shipped, long enough to be well cooled 
out (Fig. 51, PL XXI). 

Shipping. — On account of the rough handling 
given by express companies, the only way to insure 
their arriving in good shape is to ship in crates, 
four to a crate. The crate will be returned at a 
nominal charge. The size of the crate must depend 
upon the form of dressing. When backsets are used, 



238 Sheep-Farming 

it must be larger than when they are not. Make 
crates as light as is consistent with necessary strength. 
Each lamb should be wrapped in new muslin, 
enough to cover all the exposed tissue. Neatness 
in every detail in the dressing, as attention to details 
in feeding, is important in the winter-lamb business. 

Docking and castrating. — As these lambs are 
slaughtered at so young an age, they are never docked 
nor is it necessary to castrate them. However, 
late in the season it is advisable to castrate lest 
some be left when the weather becomes too warm 
to ship, and ram lambs sent to the market alive 
have to go at a discount. 

These lambs may be sent to market just as late 
in the spring as weather conditions will permit. In 
the spring it is an advantage to be near one's market. 
During cold weather, they may be shipped five 
hundred miles or even farther. 

Markets. — In years past, New York and Boston 
have been the principal markets, but a market for 
this product may be developed in almost every city 
with its first-class hotels and restaurants. 

Buildings. — The barn for this branch of sheep 
husbandry must be capable of being closed tightly, 
yet must be well lighted and ventilated. Doors 
should be made in two sections, so that the upper 
part can be kept open in all pleasant weather. The 
windows should be so arranged as to open easily. 
A good plan for this is to have them hinged at the 



Early Lamb-Raising 239 

bottom and the frame arranged so as to let the sash 
lean in at the top, thus admitting air, but excluding 
snow or rain. In colder climates, the flock may well 
be confined to the stable all the time after winter 
opens. Feed racks must be so designed as to keep 
lambs out of them, and when ensilage is fed, so as to 
be closed against the sheep until the feed is dis- 
tributed. Figure H represents a rack that has been 
found very satisfactory on the writer's farm, where 
ensilage is fed. It is equally satisfactory when only 
dry grain and hay are fed. With the sheep com- 
pletely shut away from their feed as it is being dis- 
tributed, they get in the way very little. And they 
can be avoided entirely by the feeder walking in the 
rack on the raised center connecting the troughs. 
I have never seen any other style of rack so entirely 
satisfactory for feeding large flocks of ewes with 
lambs. At least one foot of feeding space should be 
provided for each ewe of the smaller breeds and more 
for the larger ones. Be sure to have enough so that 
every ewe can get her full share of feed at each feeding. 
Floor space. — It is, of course, desirable to reduce 
the investment in buildings to the minimum per 
ewe. After ewes have yeaned, no provision for exer- 
cise for them need be made, and much activity on 
the part of the lambs is not desirable, as it gives a 
dark color to the muscles that is objectionable in 
the dressed carcass. Ten square feet of floor space 
per ewe, outside of that occupied by racks and the 
feeding room for lambs, is sufficient. 



CHAPTER XIII 

FATTENING SHEEP 

In farm flocks, practically all the sheep fitted for 
market are lambs. A few cull ewes need to be fat- 
tened in most seasons, but it is the finishing of the 
lambs that has most to do with returns and requires 
special study. There are three plans of disposing 
of lambs. The first is to have the lambs come early 
and then to feed them liberally in pens from which the 
ewes are excluded. The milk flow of the ewes is 
also kept up by good feeding, and lambs are market- 
able at fifty pounds or upwards. Selling at this 
age avoids trouble from summer parasites and the 
extra value on the early market makes the returns 
as large as from heavier lambs marketed later at a 
lower price. 

Age at which to feed grain. — The second plan is 
to market the lambs at weaning time or shortly 
after. The third is to wean the lambs and run them 
on pasture until winter, when they are fattened and 
sold when ten or eleven months old. In the first 
plan, the lambs must be fed grain while on the ewes ; 
with the other plans, feeding at that stage is optional. 
An extensive series of experiments was conducted 
at the Wisconsin Experiment Station to determine 

240 



Fattening Sheep 241 

whether or not it pays to feed grain continuously 
from the time lambs are born until they are put on 
the market, or whether it pays to only feed them 
grain after they have been weaned, or it may be still 
later when they are put in the sheds for winter fatten- 
ing. The two practices that are most strongly rep- 
resented in these ways are the practice of the farmer, 
on the one hand, who does not feed his lambs any 
grain during the summer season, and the practice 
of the feeder who forces animals continuously from 
their birth. It is a common belief that when lambs 
are not fed grain within three or four months pre- 
vious to putting them on the market, they will make 
a more rapid gain and a more profitable one, during 
the time of feeding, and then the cost of gain pre- 
vious to that has been very slight. The question 
resolves itself into the proposition that it pays bet- 
ter to grow the lamb on pasture and such rough 
forage as is obtainable and feed him for market on 
grains. The other practice opposed to this recog- 
nizes the fact that the younger the animal, the greater 
the gain on a common given amount of food, and 
the aim of the feeder who follows this practice is to 
force the lamb to eat as much as possible from the 
time it is dropped until it is put on the market. To 
analyze the differences in the practices and to indi- 
cate which are the most profitable under average 
conditions, it will be best to divide the life of a lamb 
that is being fed for market into three periods. The 



242 Sheep-Farming 

first period is that before weaning ; the second that 
after weaning ; and the third the fattening period. 

The object of the Wisconsin experiments was to 
determine whether it pays to feed grain only in 
the third period, or in both the second and third 
periods, or whether grain should be fed through all 
periods, that is, from the birth of the lamb until 
marketed. Grade Shropshire ewes were used and 
divided into three lots. 1 All the ewes received ex- 
actly the same treatment throughout the season and 
were practically uniform in milking qualities. One 
lot of lambs had access to a small compartment 
where grain was fed to them. The lambs in the 
two other lots were not given any grain, and the ewes 
had exactly the same management as the others. 
When the ewes were in the shed in the early spring, 
it was an easy matter to feed the lambs in this way. 
When they were turned out, both the ewes and lambs 
ran together on the same pasture, night and morning. 
The lambs getting grain were separated from the 
others and allowed to have access to the apartment 
in which their grain was fed them. This was the 
method followed until weaning time; then all were 
weaned at the same time and put together on the 
same run of pasture. At night the lambs receiving 
grain were separated from the others and fed their 
ration at this time. From weaning until fattening, 

1 These experiments were reported in the thirteenth and twentieth 
annal reports of the Wisconsin Experiment Station. 



Fattening Sheep 243 

there were two lots getting grain, with the third lot 
having nothing but pasturage, and those that were 
getting grain were fed such a ration as was thought 
would contribute to their growth. As soon as the 
snow prevented further feeding on pasture, the 
lambs were put in pens and fed exactly the same 
kind of ration, although the amoimt eaten by each 
was separately determined. Through this period, 
all the lambs were fed so as to make the quickest 
and the most economical gains. They were managed 
exactly alike and fed similar foods. In a general 
way the lambs were divided so as to be as near the 
same age as possible. At the time the experiment 
started in the spring, the lambs would be about one 
month old in all trials. The first period before 
weaning extended over twelve or thirteen weeks, and 
the lambs were usually weaned in July or the fore 
part of August, making the first period twelve or 
fourteen weeks. During the second period, that 
usually extended from the fore part of August until 
the first of December, the lambs were fed for about 
twelve or fourteen weeks. The third period ended 
when the lambs were marketed, usually in Febru- 
ary. The test thus planned was carried out in five 
seasons, 1891 to 1895, inclusive. The tables show 
that these lambs were heavier than the markets in 
subsequent years cared for in lambs, but the econ- 
omy of utilizing the capacity of a young animal to 
use feed economically is clearly demonstrated. 



244 Sheep-Farming 

It was aimed to grow the lambs during the first 
two periods rather than to fatten them, and in each 
case the rations were fed with this object in view. 
The result of this work shows that the gains made 
by the lambs in lot I (those fed grain before wean- 
ing) was much greater than by those not receiving 
grain, and that it took less grain for one pound of 
gain than during any of the other periods. The 
gains made by the lambs fed grain after weaning 
were not economical, as the figures show. The 
result of feeding grain at this period depends upon the 
amounts fed. If more than one-half pound per day 
were fed, the lambs would rely on the grain and not 
eat much pasture, which resulted in their not making 
economical gains. In every trial where the grain 
was limited to one and one-half pounds per day, the 
cost of the gain was satisfactory. The results also 
show that feeding lambs before and after weaning 
did not lessen the gain made during the later fatten- 
ing period. 

The grain-fed lambs matured considerably better 
than those not receiving grain previous to the fatten- 
ing period. In three trials the lambs that had 
grain from birth weighed as much seven weeks before 
the end of the experiment as did the others when 
the experiment was completed. By taking the 
average weight of the lambs in lot III at the end of 
the trial and comparing it with the cost of feeding 
the lambs in lot I until they were of the same weight, 



Fattening Sheep 245 

it was found that those fed grain from birth made a 
cheaper gain in each case. 

To determine which of these methods of feeding 
Iambs was the most profitable, it was necessary to 
make a comparison of the amount that would be 
received for them on the market minus the cost of 
the feed they consumed. The table which follows 
gives the data for each of the three periods of the 
five trials. 

This comparison was made by finding what each 
lot would bring on the market at the end of each 
period from the average weight per head based on 
the average price they would bring on the market 
and deducting the cost of the grain consumed. 
The prices used for determining their value on the 
market was obtained by taking an average of the 
price placed on each lot at the end of the period by a 
local butcher. The prices were based on Chicago 
market prices furnished by a live stock commission 
firm, the results of memoranda of representative 
sales of lambs weighing about the same as the lambs 
in these trials at the end of each period. 

A glance at the table on the following page will 
show that there was considerable difference in the 
price per hundred at which the different lots were 
valued at the end of the same period, as well as be- 
tween the values of the same lot during the other 
periods. In every case, the lambs fed grain from 
birth would bring a higher price, if sold at the end 



246 



Sheep-Farming 



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Fattening Sheep 247 

of the weaning period, as well as at the beginning 
of the fattening period and at the end of the period, 
than those not receiving grain. 

The preceding answers the question in the affirm- 
ative, whether it pays to feed lambs grain if they 
are sold at weaning time or at about four months 
old, since the lambs fed grain from birth show a 
greater comparative profit by 68 cents per head. 

The question, Does it pay to feed grain to lambs 
before and after weaning if sold in November ? is 
also answered in the affirmative. Those receiving 
grain from weaning returned a greater profit than 
either of the other lots. 

Corn for fattening sheep. — This assuredly is the 
most fattening farm grain that may be fed to sheep. 
In relying on it alone, however, there is much difficulty 
in maintaining the appetites of the sheep and in 
preventing disorders and deaths. At common prices 
it is the cheapest grain. In feeding timothy or 
prairie hay, straw, or corn fodder, a grain ration of 
corn alone would be unsatisfactory aside from the 
disadvantage of the lack of variety. With clover, 
hay, or alfalfa, corn has combined to give excellent 
results in numerous experiments and in commercial 
feeding. 

Oats. — This grain is especially desirable for getting 
sheep or lambs on feed. It is safe to begin with. 
Fed alone continuously, oats do not produce as great 
gains as corn does, and as the fattening period ad- 



248 Sheep-Farming 

varices, the proportion of oats should be decreased. 
Much, however, depends upon the form of roughage 
in use and comparative prices of these grains. 

Peas. — Peas are excellent feed for sheep. With 
breeders they are especially prized for producing 
firm flesh. They are more suitable for feeding with 
carbonaceous roughages than is corn and, when their 
price allows, will be found a very satisfactory feed. 

Bran. — When bran was cheaper than it has been 
in most years since 1900, it was quite largely used in 
sheep feeding. Like oats, it is very useful in avoiding 
disorders when commencing grain feeding, and its 
cooling and laxative tendencies make it very useful, 
especially when the alfalfa or succulent feeds are not 
available. 

The farm feeds mentioned were tested at the 
Wisconsin Station with lambs before weaning in four 
experiments. The average of the result of the trials 
showed that a slightly smaller weight of bran was 
required for each pound of gain than of ground 
corn. A somewhat greater weight of oats was re- 
quired than of corn, and cracked peas were less 
effective than oats. 

In similar tests of these feeds with weaned lambs, 
corn and peas were equally useful, while oats and bran 
each required a half greater weight for a pound of 
gain than was needed of corn or peas. In a test of 
mixtures of these grains, there was required for a 
pound of gain 5.3 pounds in case of corn, 6.3 pounds 



Fattening Sheep 249 

of corn and oats, 5.1 pounds of corn and peas, and 5.6 
pounds of corn, oats, and peas. 

Wheat — Wheat has been used extensively. 
Montana experiments show returns at the rate of 
100 pounds grain from 300 pounds of sound 
wheat and 800 pounds clover hay when the daily 
ration was .8 pound wheat and 2 pounds hay. In 
feeding 1.5 pounds wheat and 1.3 pounds brome and 
prairie hay, the South Dakota Station secured 100 
pounds gain from 534 pounds wheat and 470 pounds 
hay. So far as the results of various experiments are 
comparable, they show that from ten to fifteen per 
cent more wheat than corn is necessary for a 100 
pounds increase in weight. 

Barley. — Barley is only slightly inferior to corn 
for fattening purposes, though, as in feeding of corn, 
the results are much better when a nitrogenous hay 
or roughage is used. 

Soy beans. — On account of their high price, soy 
beans have not been widely used in fattening sheep. 
Such results as have been obtained indicate for them 
a very high value, and when leguminous hay cannot 
be used, beans should be especially valuable. 

Roughages for fattening sheep. — The following 
tables of results from experiments at the Ohio Station * 
gives a very fair idea of the relative of four of the 
commoner roughages : — 

1 Ohio Experiment Station Bulletin No. 245. 



250 



Sheep-Farming 









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252 Sheep-Farming 

In the first experiment, the lot fed alfalfa hay re- 
quired 377 pounds corn for 100 pounds gain, while 
with clover hay 405 pounds were required. Though 
the weight of corn stover fed lot IV was much greater 
than that of the hay fed to the first two lots, 571 
pounds corn were used in making 100 pounds gain. A 
slight advantage was gained by adding oil meal to the 
clover hay ration of lot I in the second trial, though the 
extra cost would offset this extra return. The alfalfa, 
corn, and oil-meal ration of lot VI was but little more 
effective than the alfalfa and corn fed lot II. The ad- 
dition of oil-meal to the corn-stover ration effected a 
reduction of over twenty per cent in the feed required 
for a pound of gain. A more striking economy was 
effected when oil meal was added to the oat-straw 
ration. The coarser roughages are seldom used with 
economy in fattening sheep. They are useful, but if 
alfalfa or clover is not used, the grain ration must 
be supplemented to supply the lack, and keeping 
sheep eating regularly is especially difficult when 
concentrates are the main reliance. The results of 
the second test give the rations the same relative 
values, though the differences are less striking. 

Sorghum hay. — Fattening experiments with alfalfa 
and sorghum hay show about the same difference as 
between corn stover and alfalfa and a similar gain 
from use of linseed meal with the ration of corn and 
sorghum hay. 

Silage. — Although silage was for some time con- 



Fattening Sheep 253 

sidered an unsafe feed for sheep, it has an important 
place in economical sheep husbandry. Special pre- 
cautions are necessary to avoid feeding of spoiled 
silage, as the effects of deterioration are much more 
pronounced with sheep than with cattle. Silage 
from corn rather well matured is desirable for sheep. 
Owing to the sheep's limited capacity, there is danger 
in not making proper allowance for the grain in the 
silage, especially when the main grain ration is a 
liberal one, and as a result difficulties arise not prop- 
erly attributable to the silage. In most of the sheep- 
feeding experiments in which silage was used, it was 
compared with roots. At the Iowa Station a ration 
of 2 pounds grain, 1.6 pounds alfalfa, and 1.4 pounds 
silage was found to produce the same gain and at a 
much lower cost than the same grain and alfalfa 
with 4.3 pounds mangels in place of 1.4 pounds silage. 
Silage was fed at the Michigan Station in tests last- 
ing 119 days, and 3.4 pounds fed daily produced 
larger and cheaper gains than 5.6 pounds rutabagas. 
Fattening lambs on rape. — There are exceptional 
possibilities in well-grown rape for fattening lambs, 
if it is fed with proper judgment and care. It may 
be fed to best advantage in the early fall, and hence 
is of valuable assistance in fattening lambs for the 
fall or early winter market. It supplies a vast 
amount of food that the lambs are very fond of, and 
as it withstands drought and early frost better 
than most succulent fodders, it is a crop that may be 



254 Sheep-Farming 

relied upon with at least common certainty. The 
first trials reported with rape for fattening lambs 
were made in England about 1845. Ten wethers 
fed on rape alone from August 10 to September 21 
made an average increase in the six weeks of 20 
pounds, or 2 pounds per head weekly. 

The most extensive trials in feeding lambs on 
rape have been carried on at the Ontario Experi- 
mental Farm. In 1890, 54 acres of rape pastured 
17 head of steers and 537 sheep, and 1 acre of the 
rape sustained 12 lambs for two months. It is 
estimated that the food provided by an acre of rape 
was worth $16.80. In another trial, rape alone was 
fed to 60 lambs, and they were kept on 2.18 acres 
for twenty-five days, during which time they in- 
creased in weight 390 pounds, or an average weekly 
increase per head of 1.82 pounds. Again, in an 
experiment on one-sixth of an acre, 6 lambs were kept 
for forty -two days, and from this it is concluded that 
1 acre would have pastured 36 lambs two months 
and have made 762 pounds of mutton. 

At the Michigan Station, 15 acres of rape pastured 
128 lambs for seven and one-half weeks, with a total 
gain of 2890 pounds. At this rate it is estimated 
that 1 acre would pasture 9 lambs seven weeks, 
and they would produce 202.5 pounds of increase. 
It is stated that the field would unquestionably have 
pastured 10 lambs for the period of ten weeks. 

Rape and pasture, — At the Ontario Station an 



Fattening Sheep 255 

experiment was tried in feeding rape alone against 
rape and pasturage. Thirty lambs comprised the 
two lots, the one being put on an acre of rape and 
the other given a similar amount with pasture. 
In fifty-eight days both lots had eaten their respective 
acres, but the 15 on rape alone gained an average 
of 22.93 pounds per head, and those receiving rape 
and pasture 28 pounds per head, thus showing the 
advantage of having pasturage for the sheep to 
graze when being fed on rape. 

Precautions necessary in feeding rape. — When 
sheep are being herded on rape, there is danger of 
bloating or diarrhea from excessive eating. Pastur- 
ing the sheep for a few hours previous to turning 
them on the rape, or allowing them to have the range 
of a small piece of pasture at all times, will assist 
in preventing these troubles. The use of the trocar 
and cannula is the most efficient method of relieving 
bloat in urgent cases, while in mild attacks the 
giving of ammonia, a teaspoonful in three times as 
much water, will usually bring relief. 

Shearing lambs before fattening them. — When 
lambs are being fattened early in the fall or in pre- 
paring them for winter fattening, it is a profitable 
practice to shear them before the fattening begins. 
At the Ontario Experiment Station, 10 lambs 
sheared in January made practically the same gain 
in weight as 10 others not shorn and similarly fed. 
At the Wisconsin Station, no advantage has been 



256 Sheep-Farming 

found from shearing in December. Those shorn 
yielded a total of 2 pounds less washed wool than 
the others and made a total gain of 2.7 pounds less 
than the wethers that were not shorn. 

Shearing in October. — It was found decidedly ben- 
eficial to shear lambs in this month before fattening 
them. Five wethers were shorn October 14 and fed 
for fifteen weeks, against another lot of 5 left 
unshorn. The shorn lot gained 225.5 pounds and 
the unshorn 210.5 pounds, or an average weekly 
gain per head of 3 pounds for the shorn and 2.8 
pounds for the unshorn. The cost of 100 pounds 
of gain was $6.11 with the shorn lot and $6.67 with 
the unshorn. In another trial with 16 wethers, 
8 were shorn October 6, and the same number left 
unshorn. In ten weeks feeding, the shorn lot gained 
194.4 pounds, or 3.4 pounds per head weekly, while 
the unshorn lot gained 169 pounds, or 3 pounds per 
head weekly. In both of these trials, it was observed 
that the removal of the fleece hastened the early matu- 
rity or fattening of the wethers up to the time the fleece 
had again grown over 1 inch in length, or until 
about eight weeks had passed. 

System of feeding. — There is unlimited variation 
in general practice in regard to this point. It has 
been the custom to feed the grain first, then the 
succulent food, and last the dry fodder. In feeding 
fattening sheep, the aim should be to induce the 
wethers to eat as much as possible. At this time 



Fattening Sheep 257 

they should receive all the grain they will eat up 
eagerly. To secure the best results, it is a good plan, 
when it is possible to do so, to feed the grain in two 
or even three feeds. This may be done easily when 
less than one hundred are fed together, but with more 
than that it is not a commendable plan. By feeding 
only one-third of the full feed intended, it is easy to 
gauge the appetites of the wethers, which is a very 
important matter. The smallest degree of over- 
feeding is certain to react on the gain of the sheep, 
for in some instances it will probably cause scouring, 
in others constipation, and it may even result in the 
loss of some of the lambs. 

Essentials in management. — There are two essen- 
tials that contribute to cheap and rapid gains, and 
these are quietness and confinement. The least 
excitement brought on by the appearance of dogs, 
haste, or abuse on the part of the attendant is cer- 
tain to be shown by the scales. For some time the 
Wisconsin Station used yards in connection with 
the fattening pens, but for the two years they were 
removed, better results seem to follow. 

Quantity to feed. — Careful attention must be 
given to the amount of grain that is fed. This part 
of the ration costs most, gives the quickest returns, 
and is the most likely to produce some disorder in 
the digestion of the sheep. For the first two weeks, 
it is much better to give them only one-half what 
they need than to feed them too much; especially 



258 Sheep-Farming 

is this true if over fifty sheep are being fed together. 
Starting the sheep safely and well on a ration brings 
the feeder's skill into play, particularly if the sheep 
have been unaccustomed to grain. There are some 
foods that are safer than others to feed at the begin- 
ning, and among these oats or bran have a general 
preference. Wheat is comparatively safe, while 
corn is probably the most dangerous to feed alone. 
One pound per head daily of either bran or oats 
is liberal feeding for sheep that are accustomed to 
grain, and a slightly smaller quantity will be suffi- 
cient for those that have not been accustomed to 
it. The quantity of grain may be gradually in- 
creased as the capacity of the sheep to consume it 
becomes greater. The careful and successful feeder 
trains his sheep to eat with as much carefulness as 
the trainer teaches a colt to trot. It is safe to 
assume that wethers at this age may be fed all the 
grain that they will eat, as it is usual for them to 
profitably utilize it in making gain, unless they are 
unhealthy or the management is defective. It is 
a hard matter to estimate the amount of grain to 
feed, owing to the variation in the consuming ca- 
pacity of sheep. In starting, from .5 pound to 1 pound 
may be fed. A month later the wether will prob- 
ably be taking 1.5 to 2 pounds, and during the last 
month from 2 to 3 pounds per head has been the 
capacity of most of the sheep. 

Cost and value of the increase. — In comparing 



Fattening Sheep 259 

foods for fattening sheep, it has been the custom to 
compare them on the basis of the cost of 100 pounds 
of gain, overlooking the increased value per pound 
that the sheep realizes in the market because of 
the improvement that has been made during the 
feeding period. It is but a moderate advance to 
consider that sheep that are bought as feeders at 
5 cents per pound will bring 6 cents per pound when 
sold after fattening. In estimating the profits from 
any ration, the ration should be credited with this 
increased value per pound of the sheep. 

Buying sheep to fatten. — The profits of buying 
and fattening sheep depend upon two things : the 
cost of the gains and the difference between the 
buying and selling price, or the margin. If feed is 
high and gains therefore expensive, a wide margin 
will be required. If there is a wide difference be- 
tween buying and selling prices, there may be a 
profit even though the amount of weight put on 
when sold should not repay the cost of the feeding. 
The increased value of the purchased weight in such 
a case amounts to more than the gains lacked of 
paying for the feed eaten. 

The success of speculative feeding depends upon 
the ability brought to bear in buying the feeders. 
The buyer must select sheep that will gain economi- 
cally and sell well when finished. He must also se- 
cure them at such a price as to have a fair chance of re- 
ceiving a satisfactory margin over the purchase price. 



260 Sheep-Farming 

A smaller margin is needed to insure a profit 
when sheep sell at high prices than when they are 
low. This is true even though the purchase price 
is also high. If the finished sheep are also sold at 
high prices, then there has been a greater return 
received for the weight put on in feeding and a 
security against loss in the feeding itself. If, at the 
same time, the cost of feed was less than the selling 
value of the increased weight, then the outlay and 
feed expense would be recovered even if the selling 
price was lower than the purchased price. 

This is shown in the italicized figures in the fol- 
lowing table from Ohio Bulletin No. 179. The lower 
left-hand figure, 6.638, is the selling price that would 
repay the entire outlay in a case in which sheep 
were bought at $7.50 per hundredweight and fed 
upon hay at $6 per ton and corn at 45 cents per 
bushel. The table assumes a consumption of 5 
pounds roughage, 4 pounds grain for each pound of 
increase. Lambs bought at the same price and fed 
upon feed valued at the highest figures shown would 
return their cost selling at 5 cents per hundred 
below the original cost. In the case of the lower 
value and expensive feeds, a margin of $1.35 is nec- 
essary to prevent loss. 



Fattening Sheep 



261 



Effect of Varying Values of Feeds and Feeder Lambs on 
Cost of Fat Lambs 



Assumed 

Values 

op Feeds 



Assumed 

Home 
Peice per 
cwt. PAID 
for Feed- 
er Lambs 



$3.00 
3.50 
4.00 
4.50 
5.00 
5.50 
6.00 
6.50 
7.00 
7.50 



Hay per Ton 



$6 $9 $12 



$9 $6 $12 



Corn per Bushel 



.45 .45 .45 



.30 .60 



Price at which Fat Lambs must sell per Hundredweight at Home to 
pay for Feeder Lambs and Feed used on Basis of Assumed Price. 



3.546 
3.890 
4.234 
4.577 
4-921 

5.608 
5.951 
6.295 
6.638 



3.783 


4.020 


3.446 


4.121 


3.209 


4.127 


4.363 


3.789 


4.464 


3.553 


4.470 


4.707 


4.133 


4.808 


3.896 


4.814 


5.050 


4-476 


5.151 


4-240 


5.157 


5.394 


4.820 


5.495 


4.583 


5.501 


5.737 


5.163 


5.838 


4.927 


5.8U 


6.081 


5.507 


6.182 


5.270 


6.188 


BJfik 


5.850 


6.525 


5.614 


6.531 


6.768 


6.19k 


6.869 


5.957 


6.875 


7.111 


6.537 


7.212 


6.301 



4.357 
4.701 
5.044 
5.388 
5.731 
6.075 
6.418 
6.762 
7.105 
7.449 



CHAPTER XIV 
PREPARATION OF SHEEP FOR SHOW 

It cannot be considered otherwise than proper to 
have animals that are to be exhibited appear at their 
best by legitimate means, but in such methods as 
trimming the sheep into shape, felting the wool with 
hot irons, staining it with dyes, and kindred practices 
that enter into the preparation of sheep for show, 
there is unlimited scope for deception. In trimming, 
the shears are made to do the work that should be 
done by breeding, and through coloring and oiling 
the novice is likely to believe that the sheep has 
qualities which it does not naturally possess. 

In selecting sheep for show and getting them into 
the condition, bloom, and general appearance to 
show their good qualities, there is much that calls 
for the shepherd's skill. The discussion which 
follows is from the pen of the late William Watson, 
whose success in the show ring with stock from 
Turlington Farm was well known some years ago. 

Importance of breeding. — It is important to 
select the best-bred sheep for exhibition purposes. 
As a rule, it is aimless labor to attempt to prepare 
underbred animals. A complete equipment for 

262 



Preparation of Sheep for Show 263 

this work is only secured by progressive breeding 
and the purchase of superior animals. To insure 
success, these factors must be further strengthened 
by skill, taste, and judgment. 

Time of birth. — In beginning this work, it is ad- 
visable to have a number of early lambs from which 
to make a selection; though, on the other hand, it 
is quite possible to have them dropped too early in 
the season for the best results. When the lambs 
have been weaned too early, they become coarse 
and lose the fineness of fleece and the peculiar style 
that is characteristic of lambs by the time they are 
to be shown. For these reasons, judgment must be 
used in respect to the age of the lamb selected for 
training. It is not advisable to select early lambs 
merely for their advantage in size, for this is usually 
considered by judges to be secondary to quality. 

Large number needed. — Show sheep must be 
matched; therefore, it is necessary to prepare a 
larger number than is actually needed from which 
to make the final choice. Twice as many should be 
included in the first draft as are actually required, 
and they should be treated alike. It is possible 
that some may die; some become foundered or 
perhaps grow coarse. 

Matching sheep. — In the selection of show sheep, 
it should be borne in mind that it is necessary to 
observe much care in matching them. The influence 
of this is illustrated by the following experience : 



264 Sheep-Farming 

"In 1847 I showed ten Southdown ewes from my 
father's Keillor flock at the Highland Society's 
show at Aberdeen. I was anxious to win both first 
and second prizes and to displace a worthy opponent, 
the late Duke of Richmond. In striving to do this, 
the ten ewes were divided into two pens of equal 
merit instead of making one superior pen and another 
inferior to it. The outcome was the loss of the 
first prize and the gain of the second. James Crisp, 
the celebrated breeder of Shorthorns, was one of the 
judges. Meeting him afterwards, I asked him the 
reason for the award. His answer was, 'Young 
man, you divided the goodness ; otherwise, you could 
have easily won the first prize.' ' This is one of 
the most common sheep-yard mistakes inimical to 
the exhibitor's interests. 

Shed or field feeding. — In preparing show sheep, 
there is a choice between house and open-air feeding. 
I have found that sheep kept in the open air with an 
abundance of sweet herbage and other feed seem 
more contented than those confined, and the mor- 
tality is decidedly less; but my preference is for 
house feeding, because the wool may be brought 
to a higher state of perfection and that is always a 
very material point with the judges. Sheep intended 
for exhibition should be housed early. There is a 
difference of opinion among exhibitors whether late 
or early shearing is best, but this is dependent on 
the breed of sheep. Those with long wool should 



Preparation of Sheep for Show 265 

be shorn early, while the Downs do better if shorn 
later. 

Attention to the feet. — The housed sheep should 
have a regular supply of litter to keep their wool 
unstained and their feet sound. To further assist 
in doing this, some shepherds allow their show sheep 
to run on pasture for an hour or so in the morning 
and also in the evening, but as a rule, it is best not 
to disturb the sheep in this way. The feet of the 
sheep should be trimmed periodically, and care 
should be taken to avoid paring too deeply. The 
tread should always be on the sole of the foot, which 
will remain sound if the outer edges are properly 
pared. Neglect paring and the superabundant 
growth doubles under the foot and incloses filth. 
This predisposes the sheep to foot rot, which always 
results in a loss of flesh. It is an important matter 
for stock in the show arena to stand level on their 
feet, and this depends greatly on the care taken in 
the use of the paring knife. 

Variety of foods required. — Sheep should be fed 
the best of everything that is in season, whether it is 
rape, clover, tares, thousand-headed kale, or cabbage ; 
all of these may be grown to perfection in the greater 
portion of this country and at least some of them in 
all regions. In addition, a continued variety of 
food should be given, including such as linseed cake, 
beans, peas, bran, oats, barley, wheat and lentils, 
or locust beans. No definite rule can be given for 



266 Sheep-Farming 

mixing these, but none of them should be fed in 
any quantity alone. By giving a wide variety of 
foods, it is not possible to secure the most economical 
gain, though there is no doubt but that the most 
rapid gains are made by these means. 

Sustaining the appetite. — The chief secret of 
successfully feeding show animals is to make them 
relish their food. If their appetites fail, at once 
make a change. The substitution of one variety 
of meal for another will generally give the desired 
stimulus to a sickly appetite. Oftentimes it may be 
advisable to also reduce the ration until they will 
eat it again with a relish. 

Feeding during summer. — It is difficult to feed 
successfully during the hot season; yet it can be 
done and the sheep kept on full rations. The sheep 
that I prepared for show during the summer of 1891 
were housed during the hot period. They were 
first fed at sunrise, and at that time they would 
eat greedily ; at nine in the morning they were again 
fed, and their appetites were closely watched and 
encouraged at times by an extra handful. At 
twelve o'clock they were allowed a few roots, cab- 
bages, or freshly cut clover. These were cooling and 
they ate them heartily. As the heat decreased by 
four o'clock, they were then given a small grain ra- 
tion, followed by roots, cabbage, or clover. After 
resting until seven o'clock, they were fed as much 
grain and roots as they would relish. The doors of 



Preparation of Sheep for Show 267 

the pen were opened so that each lot went by turns 
into the exercising paddocks. At this time, their 
pens were littered with fresh straw and sedulous 
attention given to the cleanliness of the feed and 
water troughs. The last meal was given at nine 
o'clock; the temperature being cool, they ate with 
keen appetite. They had grain and a few cabbages. 
Some sweet hay was left in their racks and fresh 
water put in their troughs, as they drank freely 
during the night. With this treatment, and by 
feeding small quantities frequently, it will be found 
that the sheep will take their full ration at this season. 
Some of our most successful exhibitors have obtained 
the best results from feeding their sheep food in a 
sloppy condition during the heat of summer. If 
this is done, careful attention must be given to the 
feed boxes that they may not become sour. 

Overfeeding possible. — In fitting animals for exhi- 
bition, it is necessary to be cautious in regard to 
feeding them heavily. Begin early to train them 
to eat by increasing the amount of feed gradually. 
Heavy feeding on a rich ration without preparation 
for it is apt to bring on some digestive troubles that 
will materially check the progress of the sheep. 
Owing to this fact, some feeders (A. Mansell, " Forma- 
tion Pure Bred Flocks," page 15) will not use peas or 
beans, it being claimed that these produce derange- 
ments of the system, which become evident in weak 
legs and a shrunken appearance of the body. This 



268 Sheep-Farming 

is stated to be more likely to occur in instance of 
lambs. It has been asserted that the feeding of such 
food as beans also produces a feverish condition 
of the system, and that many of the casualties 
attending the showing of fat sheep have been due 
to this. The barrenness of show ewes has been 
attributed to the same cause, and for this reason, 
some feeders prefer to rely on such foods as tares, 
oil cake, barley, and oats. I can say that during my 
experience of over fifty years in preparing show 
sheep, I have fed most liberally of beans, peas, and 
locust beans, and I have only observed one instance 
of any bad effects resulting from feeding them. I 
also know that John Webb followed a similar prac- 
tice and that Mr. Hersel, the shepherd of the Duke 
of Richmond and the best feeder of my acquaintance, 
fed his prize winners on oats, oil cake, and beans. 
Only on one occasion during my long experience has 
barrenness resulted from feeding ewes for show, and 
that was when four out of seven yearlings that I 
had fed on locust beans became unfertile. To be 
safe in this matter, it may be best to assume that 
the use of beans should be limited in extent, espe- 
cially as it is possible to prepare breeding sheep for 
show without the use of such foods. 

How Smithfield winners were fed. — Some years 
ago a neighbor of mine in Scotland, Mr. David 
Buttar of Corston, the celebrated Shropshire breeder, 
exhibited a pen of fat wethers at Smithfield and won 



Preparation of Sheep for Show 269 

the first prize with them. The details of the manage- 
ment of these sheep are as follows : They were the 
choice of three hundred fat lambs sired by Shrop- 
shire rams and out of half-bred ewes that were kept 
at great expense to make both ewes and lambs ready 
for selling early in the season. After being taken 
from the ewes, the lambs were put on good grass, 
with access to the shed, where oil cake, cotton cake, 
corn, and oats were supplied them. These feeding 
stuffs were mixed indiscriminately, the chief aim 
being to make the sheep eat as much as possible. 
No condiments, sugar, molasses, or milk were given. 
During the winter the sheep received a good abun- 
dance of good Swedish turnips, cut in troughs and 
fed with the same artificial food before mentioned. 
They were allowed to take exercise at will. Early 
in the spring, some grass was given them in troughs 
in the shed. They were clipped moderately close 
in April, then washed and trimmed. At the end of 
July they were shown at the Highland Society's 
show and afterwards at Smithfield, and at both these 
they were the champions of their classes. 

How Chicago winners were fed. — In my experi- 
ence, the continued feeding of condiments has been 
unsatisfactory. I have obtained the best results 
in feeding show sheep by giving them nutritious 
food, such as linseed cake, bruised oats, cotton cake, 
barley, and corn. These foods varied and used along 
with roots, hay, grass, or cabbage have been the 



270 Sheep-Farming 

most satisfactory. The use of such substances as 
treacle is to be condemned. It will be observed 
that I have not given the extra weights of the various 
foods that they have been fed. I made it a practice 
to be governed by judgment without the assistance 
of scales when feeding sheep for show. One excep- 
tion occurred in 1892, when a pen of wethers was 
being prepared for exhibition that fall. Desiring 
to make all the circumstances as favorable as possible 
for winning some important prizes with this pen, 
Professor Craig was consulted as to the proper 
selection of foods to make a good ration. The fol- 
lowing was submitted : three pounds clover hay, 
one-half pound oats, one-half pound oil cake, one- 
fourth pound corn, one-fourth pound wheat. It 
may be mentioned that the nutritive ratio of this is 
about 1 : 5, which is considered a proper proportion 
for fattening sheep. The feeding of this gave excel- 
lent results, and it contributed in a large degree to 
the merits of the pen of wethers that were the 
champions at the Chicago Fat Stock Show in 1892. 
Use of jackets. — Jackets should always be used 
after early shearing, as they will help to improve 
the fleece in point of cleanliness and firmness. The 
best material to use is strong muslin or light sail- 
cloth. The jackets should extend along the body 
and completely cover the sides. The ends that meet 
in front of the bosom should be sewed together and 
an opening should be left for the sheep's neck and 



Preparation of Sheep for Show 271 

head. To keep the jacket from sliding forward, a 
loop should be made to pass under the tail and the 
hind flanks. 

Washing before trimming. — With the exception 
of Southdowns, all sheep should be washed before 
they are trimmed. It is not advisable to wash sheep 
of any breed more than twice. Always choose 
a bright forenoon for washing, so as to lessen the 
possibility of a chill. Soft soap and water rather 
slightly tepid may be used freely, and the rinsing 
done afterwards with clean water. A week should 
elapse between the washing and trimming of ewes 
to give the wool time to set. If trimmed before 
this, it is likely that holes will be left in the fleece, 
and these will be difficult to remove. 

Stubble shearing. — Blocking the sheep out of the 
old wool is often done, but it is usually unsatisfactory 
in results. A discriminating judge detects it readily 
and generally renders judgment, discouraging the 
practice in the show ring. This deception may be 
easily discovered and should at once be condemned 
by the judge. The old wool that has been left on 
the sheep is clearly shown by its dark gray color. 

Trimming. — This preparation has for its aim the 
smoothening of the sheep's fleece and the hiding of 
any defects in its form. The fleece of the Down 
breeds supplies the best material for the trimmer's 
art ; hence it reaches the greatest perfection amongst 
breeders of such sheep. It is very necessary that 



272 Sheep-Farming 

the trimmer thoroughly understands the model of 
the breed he is preparing for exhibition, and knowing 
this, he must clearly adhere to it as a pattern for the 
sheep he is treating. In starting to trim, the belly 
wool should be leveled first. This is necessary so 
that the wool on the sheep's back may not be 
roughened after it is trimmed. When trimming 
the belly, also pare the feet. In trimming, always 
dampen the wool, so that no shear marks will be 
observable. Begin the work by letting the sheep 
stand in a perfectly natural position when held by 
an assistant ; then proceed to cut the tail head and 
carry the line straight along the back. This is done 
by reducing any elevation in the outline and leaving 
the hollows untouched. In treating the sides, com- 
mence at the shoulders and work gradually down- 
ward to the belly. Be content with giving the de- 
sired shape in the first trimming, and as the wool 
grows take the opportunity to give the final shaping 
and smoothening. Always be careful to work the 
shears backwards on the same region, so as to remove 
the slightest shear mark. After finishing the body, 
shape the head, neck, and bosom in a similar manner. 
Carding fleece. — After the sheep has been 
trimmed into the desired form, and before much 
smoothening has been done, it is a good plan to take 
a fine wire-toothed comb and tear the fleece in such 
a manner as to leave it in a much rougher plight 
than it was before the work was commenced. By 




Fig. 52. — (Page 273.) 




Fig. 53.— (Page 273.) 
Plate XXII. Carding the Fleece before Trimming. 



Preparation of Sheep for Show 273 

this means all floss is pulled to the surface, and after 
the sheep is again trimmed, the coat is smooth and 
it will keep so for months. In the work of trimming, 
a strong open brush is of much assistance. It may 
be employed to much advantage in dampening the 
fleece as well as in bringing the irregular fibers to 
the surface. A damp piece of flannel may be used 
to excellent advantage by rubbing the fleece with it, 
as it assists in removing the loose fibers and also 
in cleansing the fleece. 

In Figs. 52, 53, PL XXII, the loose ends and un- 
even parts of the dampened fleece have been brought 
out. In this case, an ordinary currycomb is being 
used, though the card is preferable. In Fig. 54, PL 
XXIII, the back is being leveled, and the sides 
trimmed in Fig. 55. 

Frequency of trimming. — After the first trimming, 
the sheep should be trimmed once a fortnight until 
the work is complete. Within a week or so of the 
exhibition, the final trimming should be given, and 
the last light trimming just previous to the time for 
the show. 

Oiling the fleece. — During the trimming, the fleece 
of the sheep should be oiled slightly, and this should 
be repeated before starting on the show circuit. 
It is best accomplished by taking a wine glass of 
olive oil to one-half an ordinary pail of water. The 
water should be heated to 100° Fahrenheit, as the 
oil globules disperse much better in warm water. 



274 Sheep-Farming 

Stir the mixture well, then with the hand apply the 
liquid over the body and back of the sheep, patting 
the fleece with the palm of the hand until the wool 
has a soft, silky feeling. One dressing will usually 
prove sufficient. A light jacket should be placed 
on the sheep at once to prevent dust adhering to the 
wool after it has been oiled. 

Firming the fleece. — Flat board pressure is often 
used on medium-wooled sheep to level and compress 
the wool on their backs. It assists in making the 
fleece appear level and mellow, yet firm to the touch. 
A limber piece of board about the size of an ordi- 
nary shingle is excellent for this purpose. The sheep 
is gently beaten over all parts, especially on the back, 
with the board, and special care is taken not to over- 
look any part of the body. 

Trimming long-wooled sheep. — Although trimming 
is not so noticeable in the sheep of the long-wooled 
breeds, it is extensively practiced. When I left 
Great Britain in 1865, the Border Leicesters were 
clipped and trimmed with care. In those days, 
stubble shearing was much resorted to in these 
breeds, but latterly it has been prohibited. The 
Lincolns, Cheviots, and Cotswolds at that time 
underwent treatment by smearing with ocher, and 
they also were trimmed. 

Treatment of long-wooled fleeces. — The fleeces of 
the long-wooled breeds may be greatly improved by 
prudent trimming and the use of soft soap and water. 



Preparation of Sheep for Show 275 

When the wool is deficient in crimp in these breeds, 
this feature may be produced artificially by the 
application of sour milk that has not reached the 
curdled stage to the fleece when it is dry. Sour 
milk has long been used for this purpose. When 
ten years of age, I learned it from my father's 
shepherd, Thomas Logan, who stated that his 
father, shepherd to the famous Culley in Nor- 
thumberland, had taught it to him. 

Process of felting. — Another method of improving 
the fleece of show sheep consists of felting the wool 
with hot irons. First reduce the wool on the backs 
of the sheep to the desired length, bearing in mind 
the shorter the wool, the more satisfactory will be 
the handling. Previous to felting the wool, it should 
be slightly oiled, and a clean cloth spread over the 
sheep's back. A hot iron is now applied in the same 
manner as in ironing cloth. It is astonishing how 
the felting or ironing process improves the fineness 
of the fleeces of some sheep, while they at the same 
time retain the elasticity sought for by the judge. 
It is especially effective in imparting these qualities 
to fleeces that are light yet fine in quality. 

Coloring. — This is the art of staining the wool 
on the sheep so as to improve the appearance of the 
animal. It is quite generally practiced by exhibitors 
in Great Britain, but has not been followed to any 
great extent in this country. There are various 
ways of applying it. Some shepherds use a syringe 



276 Sheep-Farming 

or a sprinkler, others put it on by hand, and many 
brush the coloring into the wool or dust it in by use of 
a large pepper box. In brushing it into the fleece, 
the touch should be light, and in using the pepper box, 
care should be taken to note that the dry powder 
does not come out too freely. 

Material used for coloring. — The substances used 
for coloring medium-wooled sheep are usually red 
and yellow ocher, burned umber, or insect powder at 
certain seasons. They may be used in solution or 
applied in a semiliquid condition with water or oil. 
The latter application may be objected to because 
it forms a crust and makes a surface of the wool hard 
to trim. It has been my practice to use the pepper 
box and apply a mixture of yellow ocher and burnt 
umber. It should be used lightly, thereby giving a 
natural tint to the wool. In using a pepper box, it 
is necessary to observe that the wool is very dry; 
otherwise, if the coloring matter drops too heavily 
on any spot, it makes an unsightly blemish that 
cannot be blended with the rest. Another system 
of coloring medium-wooled sheep consists in the 
application of lamp black and palm oil. It should 
be rubbed on gently with the palm of the hand, care 
being taken not to make the application too dark. 
An emulsion of Irish moss and olive oil is also ex- 
cellent dressing for Southdowns. Steep the moss for 
two hours, and in mixing it, proportion the oil so that 
none of it will rise to the top. When mixed in proper 




Fig. 54. — Leveling the back. (Page 273.) 




Fig. 55. — Trimming the sides. (Page 273.) 
Plate XXIII. Leveling and Trimming the Fleece. 



Preparation of Sheep for Show 277 

proportions, these ingredients form a soft paste which 
is easily applied to the fleece. It is advisable for a 
beginner to make his first trial of these methods on 
a sheep that is not intended for show. The prac- 
tice of trimming and coloring, when carried to excess, 
should be condemned. It may be said that it is 
legitimate to improve the fleece as far as it is possi- 
ble to do so without altering the natural form of the 
sheep, but by means of oiling and coloring serious 
defects in the fleece are changed into excellencies, 
and gross deception originates. It is hoped by the 
writer that this explanation of these practices will 
speedily assist their curtailment. 

After-treatment of show sheep. — When breeding 
sheep return from the shows, their after-treatment 
is a matter of much consideration. The aim should 
be to reduce them in flesh by means of easy exercise 
and not by any marked reduction of their rations. 
A few hours' exercise each day will soon strengthen 
them so that they will be able to remain out con- 
tinually. In some cases in which the fattening has 
been carried to extremes, it may be necessary when 
the sheep return to give them a mild purge. As a 
rule, exercise with a limited reduction of the grain 
ration will be sufficient to bring them back to normal 
condition. In reducing the fleshiness of the sheep, it 
is necessary to watch their progress closely; for it 
becomes a very hard matter to restore them if they 
are permitted to become too low in condition. 



CHAPTER XV 
DISEASES 

Keeping in mind that this manual is designed for 
flockowners the majority of whom have no technical 
medical knowledge, only such ailments and disorders 
will be discussed as the intelligent flockmaster can 
detect from descriptions, and treat, when treatment 
is practical, with a reasonable degree of success. The 
deeply hidden and complicated constitutional dis- 
orders will be left for special medical works. 

Parasitism. — Sheep suffer to a far greater extent 
from parasites than all other ailments combined. 
Could the external and internal parasites of sheep 
be annihilated, sheep and their owners would have 
nearly all their troubles removed. The sheep more 
than any other domestic animal suffers from internal 
parasites. There are two invading the lungs, two the 
stomach, a half-dozen the intestine, one the liver, and 
two, in the cyst form, the brain. 

Gid, turn-sickness, or sturdy. — The cysts invading 
the brain and accredited with producing gid are a 
transitional form of a tapeworm which in its adult 
stage is found in the dog and other canine species. 
The symptoms of this ailment are nervous twitching 

278 



Diseases 279 

about the head, an unnatural elevation and tossing 
of the head to one side, pressing against racks or 
other obstacles, or moving in a circle. In advanced 
stages, the affected sheep falls over and with head 
thrown back it struggles until death relieves it. 

I do not consider any treatment, either surgical 
or medicinal, of any practical benefit, although I am 
familiar with the oft-advised surgical operation of 
trephining. As the trouble is purely a local one in 
the brain and certainly in the earliest stages in no 
wise affects the general health, the flesh is not un- 
fitted for human food, and the wise thing is to 
slaughter the animal so affected at the first symp- 
toms of the ailment. 

The preventive treatment suggested by the ac- 
cepted life history of the tapeworm is to keep dogs 
and other canines off sheep pastures or to treat 
them frequently enough to keep them free from 
adult worms. This is comparatively easy both be- 
cause of the small number of dogs and the ease of 
treating them. A standard remedy is one dram of 
extract of male shield fern, given in a small amount 
of milk. The dog should first be fasted for twelve 
hours, and within two hours after the administration 
of the medicine, be given an ounce of castor oil. This 
should be allowed to act before any solid food is given. 
It is recommended to repeat this treatment once a 
month until a complete eradication of the tapeworm 
is effected. Of course, marauding dogs must be kept 



280 Sheep-Farming 

off the pastures. A long-range gun is a fairly efficient 
means of doing this. 

Tapeworms of the sheep. — There are two tape- 
worms which in their adult form inhabit the intes- 
tines of sheep. The outward symptoms are the same 
with either. In fact, the symptoms from the presence 
of tapeworms so nearly resemble those resulting 
from invasions of stomach with other intestinal worms 
that it is not easy to distinguish between them. A 
postmortem examination only insures a correct diag- 
nosis. The symptoms resulting from any internal 
parasitic invasion are those of general debility, loss 
of condition, paleness of skin and mucous membranes, 
and finally great weakness. However, lambs oc- 
casionally die from stomach worms without any of 
these symptoms in marked degree. A few minor 
symptoms may assist the expert shepherd in deter- 
mining the presence of the larger and more common 
tapeworm, tcenia expansa. Sheep suffering from 
its presence have an abnormal appetite. Segments 
of the worm may at times be found in the excrement, 
and in long-suffering cases diarrhea may prevail. 
This latter symptom, however, may result from other 
intestinal worms. Upon postmortem, this tapeworm 
will be found in the small intestine. Not infrequently 
there will be several, each several feet long. When it 
seems certain that individuals are harboring this 
particular tapeworm, treatment may be given with 
a reasonable degree of success. Several remedies 



Diseases 281 

have been recommended. Those given in the form of 
a drench are more efficient than solids, as the latter 
are apt to pass into the first stomach. An efficient 
remedy is two drams of extract of male shield fern 
administered in a half cup of milk, and followed in 
two hours by four ounces of castor oil. This is the 
dose for mature sheep. Lambs should be given 
correspondingly smaller doses. 

The second tapeworm, tcenia fimbriate,, is much 
smaller, not exceeding six inches in length. Yet 
it is a really more damaging parasite, as it often 
plugs the biliary duct. On account of its location, it 
cannot be reached by medicine, so that all remedial 
treatment is in vain. The only rational course to 
pursue with a flock suffering from invasion of this 
parasite is to send all that can be gotten into suitable 
condition to the market. The preventive treat- 
ment is the same as for all intestinal worms given 
in the following paragraph. 

Intestinal roundworms. — There are several of 
these, but as they usually appear together and the 
method of infection and nature of external symptoms 
are the same, there is no reason for treating of them 
separately or even naming them, except to call at- 
tention to a specific symptom of one species, that 
producing nodular disease, or "knotty gut," as it is 
generally known. The life history has not been 
generally worked out, but from the vast number in 
comparatively young sheep, it seems probable that 



282 Sheep-Farming 

they multiply within the sheep. The nodular dis- 
ease is due to the invasion of the wall of the intestine 
by the embryo of a worm that in its adult form lives 
in the passage of the intestine. It may be possible 
by the persistent use of worm medicine to dislodge 
the mature worm, but nothing can be done to remove 
the nodules. This, as other of the intestinal worms, 
is communicated from one sheep to another through 
the medium of the pastures. As the little lambs 
begin to graze after their mothers, they pick up the 
eggs, or young, expelled in the excrement of the old 
sheep. Unless it is established that these parasites 
of the sheep live from year to year outside the sheep, 
it will be comparatively easy to grow a flock free 
from them by raising the lambs in the winter and 
never allowing them to follow old sheep upon the 
pastures. It is a safeguard to have cultivated crops, 
as rape, rye, oats, and peas, and even new seedings 
of timothy and clover, for the ewes and lambs. Fre- 
quent changing of the flock from one field to another 
is also a safeguard from infection of the lamb. Have 
two pastures, or better three, for each flock and leave 
them in each pasture but one week at a time. 

Medicinal preventives. — A very large number 
of proprietary medicines has been offered flock- 
owners as remedies for internal parasites. Doubt- 
less each of them contains one or more vermifuges, 
but they are usually mixed with so much other 
material and are sold at such high prices, compared 



Diseases 283 

with the cost of well-known vermicides, that their 
use is hardly to be recommended. Moreover, their 
value is greater as a preventive than as a cure. 
They retard the development of worms when fed 
regularly, after the lambs have begun to graze, more 
effectively than they remove the worms after a 
serious infection. The invasion of the lambs by all in- 
ternal parasites commences very soon after they begin 
grazing with old sheep upon pastures favorable to 
their transmission. It was formerly thought to be by 
way of surface water, but it is certain the invasion of 
lambs may take place upon perfectly dry pastures and 
in a dry season. Lambs, however, are troubled more 
in wet years, but because of their lower vitality rather 
than on account of the greater invasion of parasites. 

Medicines that have proved of value as preven- 
tives are tobacco, copperas, turpentine, and blue 
vitriol. The former three may be fed in connection 
with salt. Use one pound of salt to four pounds of 
tobacco leaves, equal weights of salt and copperas, 
or salt saturated with turpentine. These may be 
kept before the flock all the time. The blue vitriol 
is best administered in solution, one dram to each 
sheep. This has proved a valuable remedy in ad- 
vanced cases of stomach-worm invasion. Gasoline 
in one- to three-dram doses administered with milk 
has also proved a valuable remedy. 

The stomach worm. — If any one worm is the 
cause of more deaths than any other, it is the twisted 



284 Sheep-Farming 

stomach worm, so called because of its resemblance 
to a barber pole. It invades the fourth stomach and 
may easily be seen with the naked eye either floating 
in the watery contents or attached to the wall. The 
symptoms and treatment are the same as given above 
for intestinal roundworms. 

It should be understood that whenever even one 
lamb in a flock is known to be invaded by any of 
these parasites that it is strongly probable that many, 
if not all, both old and young, are infested. The 
old sheep do not show the symptoms to the same ex- 
tent as the lambs, simply because of their greater 
vitality. 

Lungworms, hoose, husk. — Worms in the lungs 
are not as common as stomach and intestinal worms, 
yet are not infrequently found. Usually the same 
animals are harboring the stomach and intestinal 
worms. The same general symptoms of emacia- 
tion are manifest as in all cases of internal parasites : 
paleness of skin and mucous membranes and great 
weakness. The only distinguishing symptoms that 
evidences the presence of the lungworm is a low, husky 
cough, from which the name husk or hoose arises. 
There is no successful means of removing lungworm, 
but persistent administration of turpentine will pre- 
vent its multiplication, and high feeding will fit 
many of an affected flock for slaughter. The pres- 
ence of the lungworm, so long as the sheep can be 
gotten fat enough to slaughter, does not deleteriously 



Diseases 285 

affect the flock ; hence the best disposition to make of 
it is to send the flock to market. The worms are 
communicated to lambs through the medium of the 
grass and first pass to the stomach. It is while the 
young are in the stomach that they may be destroyed 
by medicine, the same as prescribed for stomach and 
intestinal worms. 

Grub in the head. — One of the bugbears of many 
flockowners is the grub of the gadfly. The fly is 
somewhat smaller than the blowfly and moves so 
rapidly as almost to elude detection. During mid- 
summer it harasses the flock by darting into the nos- 
tril and depositing the minute grubs. These crawl 
up the nostril to the end of the passages and attach 
themselves to the mucous membrane. There they 
pass one stage of their development. During this 
period, they do not seriously injure nor are they a 
serious annoyance to their host. It is only when 
they have reached their stage of development for 
changing their habitat, and begin to move about, 
that they annoy the sheep. The sheep then sneezes 
violently, rears upon its hind feet, and appears in 
great distress. Its distress, however, is not as great 
as its behavior would indicate. The grub really does 
no injury. On the other hand, I do not think, as 
some have contended, that it is beneficial. But I am 
sure there is no call for any attempt to dislodge the 
grub. Any treatment with that end in view, such 
as pouring turpentine or coal oil into the nostrils, is 



286 Sheep-Farming 

far more annoying to the sheep than the presence 
of the grub. I do not think they ever burrow into 
the brain, as many flockowners believe. Although 
they are very common, I doubt whether they ever 
kill a sheep. I have seen over twenty in the base of 
the horns of an old Merino ram that was dehorned, 
and he showed no annoyance from their presence 
whatever. It is probable, however, that they are 
one cause of catarrh. 

Catarrh. — This is one of the unpleasant ailments, 
but is not a primary disease and is not to be treated 
directly. Chronic cases usually indicate a low state 
of vitality. Open-wooled sheep that are exposed to 
rains and are compelled to lie on cold, damp ground 
suffer most from it. The English breeds trans- 
planted to this country are far more subject to it than 
Merinos. Acute cases may arise from confinement 
in ill-ventilated stables or exposure to a single 
storm. Good care and feeding is the best treatment 
in either case. However, tonics, as ginger, gentian, 
and copperas, may be used with good effect. 

Dysentery, scours. — This is another of the second- 
ary ailments; that is, it is a result, rather than a 
disease in itself, usually, of a digestive disturbance. 
Sudden changes of pasture or feed and overeating 
cause temporary derangement, though it may be 
severe enough to cause death. Frequently lambs or 
even mature sheep turned upon rank fall pasture 
after a long fast in a stockyard or on railway cars 



Diseases 287 

suffer violently in this way. Here prevention is far 
better than any cure. Sheep or lambs shipped long 
distances should first be given dry feed and very 
cautiously turned upon rank pastures. When over- 
eating of pasture is the cause, laudanum in table- 
spoonful doses for mature sheep, less for lambs, is a 
standard remedy. This should be administered 
with milk or water. A teaspoonful of ginger in a 
cup of warm water is also beneficial and should be 
resorted to whenever there is failing appetite. If 
the scouring is a result of overeating of grain, with- 
holding all feed for twenty-four hours is good treat- 
ment. If the scouring persists longer, the use of 
laudanum should be resorted to. When scouring 
is due to the presence of intestinal worms, the first 
step in the treatment is to remove the worms by 
means of the remedies prescribed under the dis- 
cussion of intestinal parasites. There is also an in- 
fectious dysentery that is to be treated by the use of 
antiseptics. Tablespoonful doses of some of the coal- 
tar antiseptics given at intervals of six hours will 
prove effective. 

Constipation, stretches. — This is the reverse diges- 
tive disturbance due to long confinement to a dry 
ration with little variety. Sheep confined to timothy 
hay, straw, or corn fodder, with corn only for grain, 
suffer in this way, especially pregnant ewes. The 
stretching is a symptom of constipation. The rem- 
edy is a physic of salts or oil followed by a change 



288 Sheep-Farming 

of diet and a stomach tonic. Wheat bran seasoned 
with salt and ginger is good. If any green feed, 
silage, or roots are available, use them and give the 
sheep access to salt and water. 

Colic. — Sheep occasionally suffer with colic. It 
is due to derangement of digestion and should be so 
treated. Determine the cause of the disorder and 
remove it. As a temporary relief, a teaspoonful of 
ginger administered with a quart of water as warm 
as the animal can take it is beneficial. It is rarely 
serious unless accompanied by bloating. This is 
due to an acid condition of the stomach. In such 
cases, an alkali should be administered. A table- 
spoonful of soda in warm water will usually give 
relief. In extreme cases, a trocar or knife should be 
used to remove the gas. This is a comparatively 
safe operation on the sheep. The puncture should 
be made on the left side between the last rib and 
point of hip. 

Abortion, slinking. — This is not uncommon in 
isolated cases as the result of injury or fright. Such 
instances need cause no alarm, and call for no special 
treatment when the afterbirth comes away promptly. 
In cases of delayed expulsion of the lamb bed, it 
should be removed. This can usually be done by 
flushing the womb with warm water. The water 
should have been boiled and allowed to cool to the 
proper temperature and have some good antiseptic 
added. 



Diseases 289 

^Contagious abortion, however, does appear in 
flocks. Whether it is related to the same trouble 
among cows is not known, but is doubtless of the 
same nature, infectious, and should be so treated. 
Individuals not affected should be removed to a 
clean stable and every precaution taken to prevent 
the spread of the infection to them. Ewes so 
affected should not be bred again, and there is great 
danger that the ram used with the flock is infected. 
He should certainly be used with only a few ewes the 
first year as a test. 

Eversion of uterus, casting withers. — This is a 
displacement of the womb with protrusion of the 
neck. It is due to a weakness of the sustaining 
ligaments. It usually precedes yeaning, but may 
persist afterwards. Treatment is necessary or the 
sufferer will sooner or later die. If the animal is in 
proper condition and not too far advanced in preg- 
nancy, she may be slaughtered. As a temporary 
relief, the protruding parts should be thoroughly 
cleansed with a mild solution of alum water and 
replaced. To do this, cover the compressed fingers 
with a clean, soft cloth and press gently but firmly 
upon the protruding organ. It is helpful to lay the 
ewe upon her back and elevate the hind parts. The 
organ is easily returned, but not so easily retained in 
place. To prevent the ewe from expelling it again, 
place her in a narrow stall with hind feet much 
elevated. Tying a cord tightly about the flank and 



290 Sheep-Farming 

loin is some restraint. As a last resort, take two or 
three stitches through the lips of the vulva. In 
case of pregnant ewes, watchfulness must be exer- 
cised to remove them before parturition. Rarely 
is a permanent cure of this trouble effected. Such 
ewes should not be retained in the breeding flock. 

Garget, caked udder. — There are different forms 
of this trouble, arising from different causes : con- 
gestion with milk, chilling or bruising of udder, and 
infection. The latter is by far the most serious. 
In such cases, seldom if ever can the affected udder 
be saved. Treatment should be given, however, 
to save the life of the animal. Inject through the 
teat a saturated solution of boric acid and apply a 
sharp blister. Give the patient a mild physic and 
protect against unfavorable weather condition. As 
soon as an abscess forms in the udder, open it, so as 
to give free drainage, and wash out frequently with 
the boric acid solution. In the milder forms of 
garget, carefully draw all milk and apply tincture of 
belladonna or tincture of iodine orcarbolized oil and 
heat with a saucer kept warm in a vessel of hot water. 
This treatment should be persisted in until recovery 
is effected. Feed very lightly until inflammation has 
subsided. A complete recovery may be expected in 
these cases. 

White dysentery in lambs. — This is an infectious 
trouble and generally fatal. It attacks lambs a few 
hours or at most only a few days old. Thus far pre- 



Diseases 291 

ventive treatment has been more effective than reme- 
dial. As soon as the disease appears, remove all ewes 
that have not yeaned to a clean stable, thoroughly 
disinfect their udders and keep the floor of the new- 
stable freshly bedded. It is a wise precaution also 
to sprinkle the stable floor frequently with a good 
disinfectant. Lambs that die with this trouble 
should be buried deeply or burned, and the stable 
thoroughly disinfected before other lambs are allowed 
to be born in it. 

Joint-ill. — This is an infectious trouble. In- 
fection enters through the navel soon after birth. 
Remedial treatment is of little value. Whenever 
one case appears, it should be taken as a warning 
that the stable is infected. Thorough cleansing of 
the stable or bandaging each lamb as born so as to 
protect it against infection is the only safeguard. 
If the season is far enough advanced to make out- 
door yeaning safe, turn the flock upon the pasture 
and keep all the newly born lambs away from the 
infected stable. 

Lamb cholera. — This malady is sometimes a very 
fatal scourge in flocks, and its cause is not yet known. 
It attacks lambs six to ten weeks old. They may 
be in stables or on pasture. The only constant 
condition that I have discovered is that it attacks 
only fat lambs. But not all fat lambs by any means 
are attacked. The lamb dies in a spasm, usually 
so soon after the attack as to escape notice. The 



292 Sheep-Farming 

only treatment I have ever found that saved a lamb 
once attacked was heroic bleeding, and that has not 
always been effective. Feeding ewes lime or bicar- 
bonate of soda has been heralded as a preventive 
by some, but I have known heavy losses in flocks to 
which these have been fed, while others not so treated 
escaped any loss. I know of no preventive except 
scanty feeding of the ewe, and no reliable cure. I 
recommend bleeding. Cut off the tail, if it has not 
already been done, or open the vein on the inside of 
the fore leg by making a slit lengthwise in it and press- 
ing the finger upon the vein between opening and the 
heart to force the flow of blood. A half pint may be 
drawn from an eight weeks' old lamb. 

Calculi, gravel. — Mature rams that are highly 
fed, also young lambs, occasionally suffer from an 
accumulation of lime granules in the urethra, usually 
at the double curve where the retractor muscle 
attaches. This is just above the rear attachment of 
the scrotum. Careful manipulation with old rams 
may effect movement of the calculi so that they will 
pass out, though usually a surgical operation is 
necessary. The calculi should be located, then an 
incision made lengthwise of the urethra directly 
over the obstruction and as small as its removal will 
permit. If skillfully performed, and with antiseptic 
precautions, recovery may be expected in a fair pro- 
portion of cases. Recovery is more certain when the 
opening can be made in such a position that the 



Diseases 293 

urine will not readily escape through the incision. 
With animals not especially valuable, the wisest course 
is to slaughter at once. If done before the general 
health is affected, the flesh will not be unfit for food. 
This trouble not infrequently affects highly fed 
winter lambs. They stand with arched back, appear 
stiff in hind quarters, and urine dribbles from them. 
In cases in which lambs were too small for market, I 
have cut the urethra off just above the scrotum 
and drawn the end out through the skin, letting the 
urine escape in this way until the lamb was large 
enough to slaughter. Occasionally calculi gather 
at the end of the penis of old rams. These are more 
easily removed. Sometimes shearers cut the long 
hairs that protrude from the urinal vent. The stubs 
then grow into the tissues and produce an annoying 
sore. Usually careful examination will suggest the 
treatment necessary. 

Entropia, sore eyes. — Lambs are born, frequently, 
especially Merinos, with one or both eyelids turned 
under so that the lashes irritate the eye. In a very 
few days, the eye shows inflammation and the cheek 
below the eye will be wet. It is usually the lower lid. 
The trouble is easily remedied by taking a shallow 
stitch in the skin near the edge of the offending eyelid 
and then in the skin of the cheek an inch below, 
and tying the thread so as to hold the lashes away 
from the eye. Usually nothing further is necessary. 
The stitch will cut its way out within a few days and 



294 Sheep-Farming 

the lid will take a normal position, and the irritated 
eye recover. 

Pink eye. — Sheep suffer from infectious sore eyes 
similar to an infection of horses and cattle. Whether 
it is communicable from one species to another is not 
yet determined. Most cases yield to mild antiseptic 
washes, such as one per cent solutions of the coal-tar 
antiseptics. Affected animals should be kept con- 
fined in dark stables, and away from other sheep, so 
as to prevent the spread of the ailment. Care should 
be taken also not to feed the affected animals dusty 
hay, as the dust would aggravate the inflammation. 
Burned alum blown into the eye is an effective remedy 
when the ailment has advanced to a stage where a 
film covers the eye. 

Goiter. — This is an enlargement of the thyroid 
gland. It is a result of improper feeding of the dam. 
There is no remedial treatment except a surgical 
removal of the gland. More skill and technical 
knowledge than the average flockmaster has is 
necessary for the operation. Lambs so affected 
should be sent to market as early as they can be fitted, 
as in the vast majority of cases the goiter enlarges 
with advancing age. To prevent its appearance, 
pregnant ewes should have plenty of outdoor exercise 
and be fed a well-balanced ration. 

External parasites. — The external parasites from 
which sheep suffer annoyance are ticks, lice, scab 
mites, and maggots of the blowfly. 



Diseases 295 

The scab. — This is produced by a minute insect, 
acarus, that burrows into the skin, causing great 
irritation. The suffering animal digs itself with its 
hind feet or rubs against some object until the skin 
is lacerated. The scab that develops at such spots 
gives name to the ailment. The mite is so small as 
not to be seen on the sheep, but may be seen as a 
minute speck on white paper. The cause of the ail- 
ment is now thoroughly understood and effective 
remedies known. The ailment yields readily to 
any one of the several dips : a decoction of tobacco 
stems ; lime and sulphur, such as is now widely used 
for spraying trees; a solution of coal-tar products 
widely advertised for the purpose; also a sulphur 
and arsenic compound. 

Fortunately, scab is pretty well eradicated from 
American flocks, especially in eastern states, though 
not entirely so. Flocks contract it only through con- 
tact with affected animals, or with objects against 
which they have rubbed. Any appearance of the 
ailment should be promptly treated. The writer 
once purchased some feeding lambs from New Mex- 
ico late in the fall. They were dipped under govern- 
ment inspection, but the scab broke out during the 
winter. I used crude petroleum freely on all affected 
points, rubbing it in thoroughly with a stiff brush. 
This held it in abeyance until the weather became 
warm enough to warrant dipping. The entire flock 
was disposed of in the spring. The following winter, 



296 Sheep-Farming 

other sheep were placed in the same stable, and no 
further appearance of the ailment was seen. 

The tick. — Ticks, to the discredit of flockowners, 
are still very common and are the cause of great loss 
not directly through death, but by interfering with 
the thrift of the animals. As with the scab mite, 
there is no excuse for permitting them to annoy the 
flock. They yield readily to the same treatment as 
the scab mite. A second dipping will be necessary 
to catch those that were in the egg stage at the time 
of the first dipping. Ten days should intervene 
between the two. 

Sheep lice. — The sheep louse is less common than 
the tick, yet is occasionally found, especially upon 
goats. It is much smaller than the tick, but large 
enough to be seen with the naked eye. The same dips 
recommended for the tick will eradicate the louse. 

Maggots. — These are the larval form of the blow- 
fly. They are a serious annoyance and cause of 
loss during the hot summer months, especially 
among flocks suffering from any hoof ailment. 
They also annoy rams or any other sheep with sores 
or with offensive odor about them. A sheep once 
invaded by them needs prompt and persistent atten- 
tion, or it will soon succumb. Eggs will hatch within 
twenty-four hours, and when flies have once gotten 
after a sheep, they persist in depositing eggs upon it 
until it succumbs. Flocks so annoyed should be 
removed to a new field. The removal is best made 



Diseases 297 

after night, so that the flies will not follow. In- 
fested animals should be removed to a dark stable. 
Gasoline is an effective and economical remedy for 
destroying the maggots, and air-slacked lime sprin- 
kled over the infected point is the best guard against 
further deposits of eggs. Turpentine and tar have 
been much used for this purpose, but are not as valu- 
able as the gasoline and lime. 

Aphtha. — This is an affection of the lips. Unless 
treated, it spreads to the lining of the mouth, over the 
face, and may appear upon the feet and legs. It 
first appears as small, red, and slightly elevated spots 
upon the lips. Later, watery vesicles appear. After 
they burst, scabs develop. It is frequently seen on 
nursing lambs. It will then also be found upon the 
teats and udders of their mothers. It yields some- 
what readily to antiseptic treatment. Use a car- 
bolic ointment, or if scabs have formed, soften them 
with a two per cent solution of some of the carbolic 
dips. Persist in this treatment until a cure is effected. 
When the teats of nursing ewes are affected, use a 
dressing of boric acid with eight parts lard, as the 
odor of carbolic acid will prevent lambs from nursing. 
It may be necessary to hand-milk the ewes and feed 
the lambs for a few days. 

Wool-pulling. — During the winter, in flocks that 
are highly fed on corn, there will be individuals that 
pull the wool from their sides, giving the flock a very 
ragged appearance, and causing no inconsiderable 



298 Sheep-Farming 

loss of wool. In such cases, there will be found to be 
small eruptions on the skin. Change the diet to a 
more laxative and nitrogenous one and rub mercurial 
ointment into the skin at the affected points. The 
trouble will disappear when the flock goes to pasture. 
Another cause of loss of wool is lying upon heating ma- 
nure. Still another cause is parturient fever. The 
treatment in both these cases is to remove the cause. 

Cotted wool. — Felting of the fleece is the result 
of some constitutional disturbance, that checks the 
natural flow of oil, thereby allowing the fibers to 
felt. Any serious ill health that reduces the con- 
dition of the sheep may be the cause. The only 
remedy is to restore the sheep to good health. The 
trouble may not appear another year. 

Administration of medicines. — Medicines should 
never be administered through the nose. Fluid medi- 
cines that it is desired should pass directly to the 
fourth stomach should be administered with the sheep 
standing. Secure a long, slender-necked bottle and 
a funnel that will fit it ; a graduated measuring glass 
should also be provided. Let the sheep to be treated 
back into a corner. Step astride of it and with the 
left hand under the lower jaw elevate the mouth 
just enough so that medicine will run toward the 
throat. Insert the bottle in the side of the mouth, 
taking care not to pour into the mouth at once more 
than the animal can easily swallow. Fatalities 
have resulted from gasoline passing into the lungs. 



INDEX 



Abortion, 288. 

Administration of medicines, 298. 

Advantages in sheep-farming, 6. 

After-birth, removal of, 189. 

Age, how to tell, 165. 

Alfalfa, 209, 250. 

Altitude, 

classification based on, 29, 32. 

influence of, 30, 35. 
American sheep-breeding, 40, 42. 
Ancestry of present-day sheep, 23. 
Aphtha, 297. 
Autumn management of flock, 163. 

Bakewell, Robert, 50, 52, 57, 153. 
Barley for fattening, 249. 
Barns, cost of, 15. 
Black-faced Highland, 134. 
Black Top Spanish Merino, 44, 
Border Leicester, 57. 
Bran for fattening, 248. 
Breeding, importance of, for show 

sheep, 263. 
Breeding ewes, 

age of, 164. 

grain for, 180. 

in early winter, 177. 

roughages for, 179. 
Breeds, 

adaptability of, 33, 138. 

British breeds, 49. 

classification of, 28, 29, 32. 

formation of, 28, 32. 
Breed type, 139. 
Buildings, 

for early lambs, 238. 

for sheep farms, 13. 
Butchering early lambs, 236. 
Buying sheep to fatten, 259. 



Caked udder, 290. 

Calculi, 292. 

Carding the fleece, 273. 

Casting of withers, 289. 

Castration, 199. 

Catarrh, 286. 

Cheviot, 131. 

Cholera in lambs, 291. 

Classification of breeds, 28, 29, 32. 

Climate, influence on wool, 37. 

Clover hay, 250, 251. 

Colic, 288. 

Combining wool and mutton, 3, 12. 

Conditions for sheep, 1. 

Constipation, 287. 

Corn fodder, 180. 

Corn for fattening, 247. 

Corn stover, 250, 251. 

Cotswold, 61, 73. 

Cotted wool, 298. 

Cross-breeding, 160. 

Delaine Merinos, 44. 
Dickinson Merinos, 44. 
Dipping, 216, 295, 296. 

tank, 216. 
Diseases, 278. 
Docking, 201. 
Dorset, 127, 230. 
Dysentery, 286. 

white dysentery in lambs, 290. 

Early lamb-raising, 
buildings for, 238. 
butchering, 236. 
feeding early lambs, 234. 
management at mating, 231. 
marketing, 235. 
markets, 238. 



299 



300 



Index 



Early lamb-raising, shipping, 237. 

the breeding flock, 230. 

weight of, 229. 
Ellman, 77, 153. 
Entropia, 293. 

Equipment for sheep farms, 11. 
Eversion of uterus, 289. 
Ewe flock, uniformity in, 145. 
Ewes, 

age for breeding, 164. 

condition of, 177. 

culling, 158, 163. 

division for wintering, 183. 

dry, 194. 

feeding while suckling, 198. 

flushing, 168. 

grain for, 180. 

marking bred, 174. 

number to ram, 173. 

ova produced by, 171. 

silage for, 179, 180, 252. 

sorting, 163. 

time for mating, 167. 

yearling, 167. 

Farms for sheep, 11. 
Fattening sheep, 240. 
Feeding, 

breeding ewes, 198. 

early lambs, 234. 

quantity to feed, 257. 

show sheep, 264, 265, 266, 268, 
269. 

systems of, 256. 
Feed racks, 16. 

troughs, 16. 
Fencing, 19. 
Fleece, 

carding, 272. 

coloring, 275. 

examining, 221. 

firming, 274. 

oiling, 273. 

treatment of long wool, 274. 

trimming, 271. 

tying, 215. 

weights, etc., 223. 
Floor space, 14. 

for early lamb-raising, 238. 
Flushing ewes, 168. 



Foundation stock, 

pure breds versus grades, 135. 
selection of, 137. 

Garget, 290. 
Gid, 278. 
Goiter, 296. 
Gravel, 292. 
Grazing crops, 206. 
Green crops, 5. 
Grub in head, 285. 

Habits of sheep, 21. 
Hampshire sheep, 105. 
Hand-breeding, 174. 
Hoose, 284. 
Hot-house lambs, 229. 

weight of, 229 (see Early lamb- 
raising). 
Husk, 284. 

Imported sheep, popularity of, 149. 
Improvement of flock, 

in America, 174. 

opportunities for, 147. 
In-breeding, 153. 
Increase while fattening, cost and 

value of, 258. 
Intensive farming, sheep for, 4. 

Judging sheep, 141. 

Lambing, 

assisting, 190. 

delayed, 184. 

indications of, 184. 
Lambs, 

attention at birth, 190. 

castration, 199. 

cholera, 291. 

developing, 159. 

docking, 201. 

dysentery in, 290. 

early (see Early lamb-raising). 

feeding previous to weaning, 
197. 

hand-feeding, 195. 

hot-house, 229. 

marking, 191. 

quantity of grain for, 197. 



Index 



301 



Lambs, still-born, 189. 

weak, 193. 

weaning, 209. 
Lands for sheep, 3, 12, 13, 4. 
Leicester sheep, 51, 54. 
Lice, 296. 

Lincoln sheep, 67, 73. 
Line-breeding, 153. 

principles of, 155. 
Lowland breeds, differences in, 73. 
Lungworms, 284. 

Maggots, 296. 

Management, essentials in, 257. 
Market grades of wool, 223. 
Marketing early lambs, 235. 
Markets for early lambs, 238. 
Mating, time of, 167. 
Medicinal preventives, 282. 
Medicines, administration of, 298. 
Merinos, 20, 25, 34, 42. 

classes of, 44. 

French. 46. 

Oats for fattening, 247. 
Ova produced by ewes, 171. 
Oxford Down, 117. 

Parasites, 

external, 291. 

internal, 278. 
Pastures, 

changing, 205. 

shade in, 204. 
Pasturing sheep with horses, 263. 
Peas for fattening, 248. 
Pedigrees, study of, 150. 
Pink eye, 294. 

Pregnancy, duration of, 183. 
Preparation of show sheep, 262. 
Preventives, medicinal, 282. 
Pulled wool, 228. 
Pulling wool, 297. 

Racks for feeding, 16. 
Rambouillets, 46, 47. 
Rams, 

judging breeding qualities, 148. 

number of ewes for, 173. 

rations for, 181. 



Rams, selection of, 147. 

testing, 151. 
Ranching, 2. 
Rape, 6, 207, 253, 254. 
Roughages for sheep, 5. 

for ewes, 178. 

for fattening, 249, 250, 251. 

Saxony Merinos, 27. 
Scab, 295. 
Scours, 286. 
Shade, 12, 204. 

in pastures, 204, 254. 
Shearing, 

before fattening, 255. 

in October, 256. 

manner of, 213. 

stubble, 271. 

time for, 212. 
Shepherds, 6. 

Shipping early lambs, 237. 
Show sheep, 

after treatment, 277. 

feeding, 264, 265. 

fleeces of, 271. 

importance of breeding, 263. 

matching, 263. 

time of birth, 263. 

trimming, 271, 273. 
Shrinkage of wool, 223. 
Shropshire sheep, 86. 
Silage, for ewes, 179, 180, 252. 
Slinking, 288. 
Soil, influence on wool, 39. 
Sore eyes, 293. 
Sorghum hay, 252. 
Southdown, 74. 
Soy beans, for fattening, 249. 
Spring management of flock, 183. 
Stomach worms, 283. 
Stretches, 287. 
Stubble shearing, 271. 
Sturdy, 278. 
Suffolk, 126. 
Sugar beets, 180. 

Summer management of flock, 
202. 

Tank for dipping, 217. 
Tapeworms, 280. 



302 



Index 



Tar, 204. 
Ticks, 296. 
Trimming, 

deception due to, 142. 

frequency of, 273. 
Troughs for feeding, 16. 

for watering, 18, 203. 
Tunis sheep, 230. 
Turn sickness, 278. 
Twins, care of, 194. 

Unmerchantable wool, 228. 
Uterus, eversion of, 289. 

Watering-troughs, 18, 203. 
Webb, work of, 79. 
Weeds, eaten by sheep, 7. 
Weight of early lambs, 229. 
Wheat for fattening, 249. 
Winter management of flock, 175. 
Withers, casting of, 289. 



Wool, 

affected by altitude, 37. 

affected by climate, 37. 

affected by soil, 39. 

as a basis of classification, 
29, 32. 

combined with mutton, 3, 12. 

cotted, 298. 

density of, 219. 

market grades, 223. 

pulled, 228. 

shrinkage, 223. 

territory, 39. 

twine for, 215. 

unmerchantable, 228. 
Worms, 

guarding against, 205. 

intestinal roundworms, 281. 

lung, 284. 

stomach, 283. 

tape, 280. 



28, 



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must pass before it can be surpassed in comprehensiveness, accuracy, 
practical value, and mechanical excellence. It ought to be in every 
library in the country," — Record-Herald, Chicago. 



Cyclopedia of American Horticulture 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 

With over 2,800 original engravings; four volumes; the set, 
$20.00 net; half morocco, $82.00 net; carriage extra 

"This really monumental performance will take rank as a standard 
in its class. Illustrations and text are admirable. . . . Our own 
conviction is that while the future may bring forth amplified editions 
of the work, it will probably never be superseded. Recognizing 
its importance, the publishers have given it faultless form. The 
typography leaves nothing to be desired, the paper is calculated to 
stand wear and tear, and the work is at once handsomely and 
attractively bound." — New York Daily Tribune. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 64-66 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK 



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